As China places growing emphasis on cultivating innovation-driven talent, educators are increasingly asking how early engineering thinking should begin. For Li Yi, PhD, the answer is clear — it begins long before university.
A senior mathematics educator and STEM curriculum designer at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, Li has led the development of an integrated program aimed at nurturing "outstanding future engineers".
With a doctoral degree in information and communication engineering, Li brings an interdisciplinary perspective to education, bridging technical expertise and classroom practice.
At the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, STEM education is not treated as a collection of separate subjects, nor simply as a way to help students master advanced knowledge or prepare for competitions. Instead, the school has developed a program designed to cultivate the way engineers think.
"We want students to learn how to identify problems, build models, analyze data, design solutions and test them in practice," said Li Yi, who led the program's development. "Engineering education at the secondary school level should help students connect knowledge with real life."
The program follows a three-tiered STEM curriculum spanning foundational, intermediate and advanced levels. Foundational courses introduce all students to essential concepts in mathematics, science and technology. Intermediate courses emphasize interdisciplinary projects that build early engineering awareness and handson problem-solving skills. Advanced courses immerse highly motivated students in complex, research-oriented projects that mirror authentic engineering challenges.
Through this structured progression, students are encouraged to develop five core competencies: modeling thinking, data thinking, computational thinking, design thinking and engineering thinking.
Project-based learning lies at the heart of the program. Students have explored topics including urban traffic modeling, population forecasting, sustainable energy systems, drone swarm design and epidemiological simulations.
These projects require them to integrate knowledge across disciplines, analyze real-world data, build prototypes and evaluate solutions critically.
Li said such projects help students understand that engineering is closely connected to society.
"Many of the problems we choose are connected to real social and industrial needs," she said. "Students learn that technology should benefit people and that innovation also comes with responsibility."
The program has now served more than 3,000 students and produced notable outcomes. More than 200 students have received national and international awards, including recognition in the High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling and other STEM innovation competitions. Several student research projects have also been published in academic journals and conference proceedings.
Many graduates of the program have gone on to leading universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University, pursuing advanced study in fields such as quantum communication, algorithm engineering and robotics.
Behind these student achievements is a sustained effort to support teachers' professional growth.
As part of the program, educators receive ongoing training and participate in international exchanges. Teachers from different disciplines — including mathematics, information technology, physics, biology and engineering — are also encouraged to work together to design integrated courses, ensuring that students receive guidance from multiple perspectives.
More broadly, the program adds to ongoing discussions about how secondary schools can better prepare students for an increasingly technology-driven future. It offers one possible model for integrating engineering thinking into pre-university education, showing how rigorous STEM learning can be both intellectually demanding and socially meaningful.
Li is also exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance STEM education. Through AI-assisted learning tools, intelligent feedback systems and data-visualization platforms, the program is helping students refine ideas, test hypotheses and improve engineering designs in more adaptive and immersive learning environments.
"AI can make STEM learning more personalized and more interactive," Li said. "But the core remains the same: students need to learn how to ask meaningful questions and solve problems creatively."
For Li, the future of STEM education lies not simply in teaching technical skills, but in cultivating a generation of thoughtful innovators capable of addressing complex human challenges.
"Engineering education is not just about training future engineers," she said. "It is about helping young people build the confidence and ability to change the world around them."
