Founded in 1959, the College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering was originally the Department of Agricultural Mechanization. In 1962, upon superior approval, the department was transferred to Shandong Institute of Agricultural Mechanization. The Agricultural Mechanization major resumed student recruitment in 1976, and the Department of Agricultural Mechanization was reinstated in 1977. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural Engineering in 1990, upgraded from a department to the College of Engineering and Technology in 1994, and renamed the College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering in 2000.

The college has 99 faculty and staff members, including 15 professors, 47 associate professors, 21 doctoral supervisors, 52 master’s supervisors and 3 senior experimentalists. 100% of the teachers hold doctoral or master’s degrees. The faculty team comprises 3 Position Scientists of the National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System, 8 Position Experts of innovation teams under the Shandong Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System, 2 National Top Ten Agricultural Machinery Teachers in Chinese Universities, 2 Provincial Distinguished Teachers of Shandong, 1 Outstanding Postgraduate Supervisor of Shandong Province, and 1 Expert of the Discipline Appraisal Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of Shandong Provincial People’s Government. Currently, the college enrolls 364 doctoral and master’s postgraduates and 2,015 undergraduates.

The college runs a Postdoctoral Research Station in Agricultural Engineering and a first-level discipline doctoral program in Agricultural Engineering. It offers two first-level academic master’s programs in Agricultural Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, as well as two professional master’s programs in Mechanical Engineering and Control Engineering. The doctoral and master’s programs of the first-level discipline Agricultural Engineering cover four research orientations: Machinery and Intelligent Equipment for Food Crops, Machinery and Intelligent Equipment for Cash Crops, Agricultural Informatization and Intelligent Control Technology, and Agricultural Bio-systems Engineering. The first-level academic master’s program in Mechanical Engineering includes four research orientations: Design and Theory of Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Equipment, Mechanical Manufacturing and Automation, Mechatronic Engineering, and Vehicle Engineering.

Six undergraduate majors and a micro-major in Agricultural Robotics are available: Agricultural Intelligent Equipment Engineering, Agricultural Mechanization and Automation, Electrical Engineering and Automation, Automation, Mechatronic Engineering, and Vehicle Engineering. Among them, Agricultural Intelligent Equipment Engineering is a newly launched major in 2025. Agricultural Mechanization and Automation is a National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site. It recruits government-supported agricultural students, and is designated a Provincial Characteristic Major, a key major supported by central finance for local universities under the Shandong University Development Project, a core major of Shandong High-level Applied-oriented Major Construction, and a major under the Shandong Outstanding Engineer Education and Training Program. Electrical Engineering and Automation, Automation, and Mechatronic Engineering are construction sites of Shandong Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Majors.

The college hosts multiple provincial and ministerial research platforms: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Production Technology and Equipment for Protected Horticulture (in preparation, formerly Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Machinery and Equipment); Shandong University Future Industry Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Agricultural Robots; Shandong Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Intelligent Agricultural Equipment; National Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Production Machinery and Equipment (co-constructed); Scientific Observation Station of Protected Agricultural Engineering under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Shandong Promotion Center for Boron-Chromium-Rare Earth Co-permeation Technology; Laboratory for Integrated Agricultural Machinery and Agronomy under Shandong Wheat Engineering Technology Research Center; Agricultural Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center of Shandong Agricultural University; and MIE Technology Center. The college is a participating unit of Shandong Collaborative Innovation Center for Annual Production of Wheat and Corn and Shandong Collaborative Innovation Center for High-quality and Efficient Production of Fruits and Vegetables.

The college prioritizes talent cultivation. It owns 1 National First-Class Course, 6 Provincial First-Class Courses, 1 National First-Class Major, 3 Provincial First-Class Majors, and 1 Shandong Provincial Excellent Teaching Team. It offers 1 National Quality Course & National Quality Resource Sharing Course, 12 Shandong Provincial Quality Courses, 9 university-level first-class undergraduate courses, 3 high-quality postgraduate education courses of Shandong Province, and 5 provincial teaching case libraries for professional degree postgraduates. The college has won nearly 10 teaching achievement awards including the First Prize of Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Award.

A batch of national and provincial teaching platforms are established here: National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Agricultural Mechanization and Automation, National Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Center for Agricultural Mechanization and Automation, National Innovation Experimental Zone for Cultivating Entrepreneurial Talents Majoring in Modern Agricultural Engineering, and the Education Informatization Application Practice Community accredited by the Ministry of Education. It co-built the provincial Modern Industrial College of Intelligent Manufacturing with TaiKai Group Shandong Co., Ltd. The college has set up teaching, research and employment practice bases in 32 enterprises including Wuzheng Group Shandong Co., Ltd., TaiKai Group Shandong Co., Ltd., and Jiufang Taihe Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. Two provincial joint postgraduate training bases have been established in CNHTC Tai’an Wuyue Special Vehicle Co., Ltd. and Tai’an Hualu Forging Machinery Co., Ltd.

Remarkable achievements have been made in scientific research and innovation platform development. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan period, faculty have undertaken more than 190 research projects covering the National Key R&D Program, position scientist projects of the National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program (Major Science and Technology Innovation Project), major applied agricultural technology projects of Shandong Province, position scientist projects of the Shandong Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System, Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and horizontal research projects, with total research funding exceeding 217 million RMB. Researchers have published 657 academic papers, among which 352 are indexed by SCI or EI. A total of 890 patents have been authorized, including 95 invention patents and 120 computer software copyrights. Faculty have compiled or participated in compiling 12 textbooks and monographs, and claimed 20 scientific research awards including the First and Second Prizes of Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.

Students have delivered outstanding performance in practical training and innovation. In the past three years, students have won 32 first prizes, 26 second prizes and 16 third prizes in provincial and above-level mechanical, electrical innovation and electronic design competitions, such as the National College Students’ Internet Plus Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and National Mechanical Innovation Design Contest. Five postgraduates participated in the Qilu Postgraduate Academic Forum and claimed 3 first and second prizes. Students have obtained 15 national-level and 40 provincial-level college student innovation and entrepreneurship training programs. Two papers won Provincial Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Awards, four won Provincial Excellent Master’s Dissertation Awards, and 12 postgraduate research achievements received provincial or higher-level outstanding achievement awards. The graduate employment rate ranks high across the university, earning wide recognition from employers. The college has been awarded the Advanced Unit in Student Enrollment and Employment for nine consecutive years.

Sticking to the student-centered principle and focusing on improving teaching quality, the college highlights its distinctive school-running features to elevate talent cultivation quality and scientific and technological innovation capacity, while reinforcing disciplinary construction and faculty development. It adheres to the school-running philosophy of “Building the College through Teaching, Strengthening the College through Research, and Revitalizing the College through Talents”. Following the general development guideline of “Stabilizing enrollment scale, optimizing disciplinary structure, prioritizing talent development, boosting scientific research, upgrading comprehensive strength and realizing leapfrog growth”, the college strives to build a first-class domestic agricultural engineering college featuring outstanding agricultural engineering disciplines, integrated mechanical and electronic disciplines, and deep integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy.