Mechanical Engineering has been one of the disciplines offered since the very early days of the establishment of the Fisheries School, the predecessor of Nha Trang University today. Throughout nearly 60 years of existence and development, the scope and scale of training in Mechanical Engineering have been continuously expanded to meet the increasingly high and diverse needs of society. Thousands of students graduating from the Department of Mechanical Engineering have made and are making significant contributions to the cause of national modernization and industrialization. Scientific research projects by professors, doctors, and engineers in Mechanical Engineering have been applied in many production and business establishments across the country. Achievements in training, research, and technology transfer have demonstrated the tireless efforts of the staff and lecturers of the Department of Mechanical Engineering over its nearly 60-year journey of formation and development.
The predecessor of today’s Department of Mechanical Engineering was the Ship Mechanical Engineering Division, which was separated from the Exploitation Division of the Faculty of Fisheries at the University of Agriculture and Forestry (Hanoi). The first Mechanical Engineering class, consisting of 14 students, was separated from the third-cohort Fisheries Exploitation class in 1966 with the objective of training engineers to work in the repair, new building, and technical management of fishing vessels.
Despite facing countless difficulties and hardships, the educational mission of Mechanical Engineering has never been interrupted, even during the years of fierce sabotage warfare by the American imperialists. Generations of Mechanical Engineering staff and students have grown and held key leadership positions in state agencies, production and business establishments, training institutions, and scientific research units, leaving a deep mark on the development history of Vietnam’s mechanical engineering field, such as: Thay Nguyen Trong Nhuan, Dr. Phan Luong Tam, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Quach Dinh Lien, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duong Dinh Doi, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Minh, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung, as well as directors of provincial fisheries departments such as Pham Ngoc Anh, Dao Van Bao, Pham Huu The, Vo Thien Lang, etc. Along with its core mission of training, the mechanical engineering field has implemented numerous scientific research projects, some of which have been effectively applied in practice or have left their mark for creativity and boldness in the scientific work of the faculty and students of Mechanical Engineering.
Thanks to the strong growth of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and in order to meet multidisciplinary development and societal needs, in 2007 the Department of Mechanical Engineering was split into the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. In 2011, the University continued to restructure its departments and divisions to suit the new context. The Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering was renamed the Department of Transportation Engineering. The Automotive Engineering Division was transferred from the Department of Mechanical Engineering to the Department of Transportation Engineering. The Construction Engineering and Mechanics–Materials Divisions were separated to form the Department of Civil Engineering. The Thermal–Refrigeration Engineering Division of the Faculty of Food Technology was transferred to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2013, the Department of Mechanical Engineering introduced an additional Mechanical Engineering program, managed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division. Thus, from 2011, the Department has offered four main majors with specific specializations as follows:
- Mechanical Engineering: Manufacturing Technology, Digital Design & Manufacturing
- Mechatronics Engineering: Mechatronics Engineering, Embedded Systems & IoT (Embedded Systems & IoT)
* Special programs
- Industry-commissioned training program: Smart Fisheries Mechanics – Minh Phu: linking training with practical reality, helping students both study and gain real-world experience, and ensuring outputs that match enterprise needs.
Since 2013, the Department of Mechanical Engineering has offered doctoral and master’s programs in Mechanical Engineering. The current full-time staff of the Department consists of 28 members, including 4 Associate Professors and 15 PhDs, trained in Russia, the UK, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, etc., and 4 doctoral candidates in Vietnam and overseas; all teaching staff hold at least a master’s degree.
Implementing the State’s renovation policy in education, the mechanical engineering discipline in particular and Nha Trang University in general have proactively cooperated with many international organizations and universities around the world such as those in Japan, South Korea, China, the Russian Federation, Norway, the Czech Republic, etc., with the aim of exchanging students and lecturers, conducting academic exchanges, and acquiring advanced training technologies from developed countries, thereby creating opportunities for students, lecturers, and researchers of the University to share experiences and improve their teaching and research capacity.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering in particular and Nha Trang University in general have nearly 60 years of experience in organizing training and scientific research to serve the development needs of the fisheries sector as well as other socio-economic sectors. In line with the comprehensive renewal of the country, the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been undergoing fundamental changes, gradually rising to meet the demands of industrialization and modernization. Although there remain many difficulties and challenges ahead, the path toward developing the Department of Mechanical Engineering into a center for training high-quality technical human resources and a reliable pillar for scientific and technological development in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands regions has been and continues to be firmly affirmed.