As a strategic emerging industry direction for global competition, low-altitude economy has become an important area for my country to cultivate and develop new quality productivity. Since last year, the term "low-altitude economy" has gradually entered the public's vision.

Talent demand in related fields is also constantly arousing. In the second half of 2024, the Ministry of Education made extraordinary arrangements for urgently needed subjects and majors, and a total of 6 universities across the country added new majors of "Low-altitude Technology and Engineering". In the past April, the new undergraduate major entered the latest "Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in General Higher Education Institutions".

This year, the first six universities in the country will carry out enrollment for this new major. How will this new major fill the gaps in "low-altitude economy" talents? How is the current progress in the construction of the first batch of new majors? What are the future employment prospects for graduates of this major and which students are suitable for applying for the exam? As the college entrance examination is approaching, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed relevant officials from many universities to answer questions and answer questions for candidates and parents.

Industry application scenarios have increased explosively, and the talent demand gap is large

"With the gradual opening of low-altitude airspace in my country, some business forms based on the ground can be "moved" into the air, including unmanned logistics, low-altitude manned transportation, and some industrial applications, etc...." Gu Rentao, professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, deputy director of the Training Cooperation Department and vice dean of the Future College, pointed out.

During the 2024 National People's Congress, "low-altitude economy" was written into the government work report for the first time; the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed to develop general aviation and low-altitude economy, and then, the Low-altitude Economic Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission was officially established... Low-altitude economy, as a new economic form, is becoming a strategic emerging industry direction for global competition.

Si Haiqing, deputy dean of the School of General Aviation and Flight of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, market demand for low-altitude airspace is growing rapidly. Civil drones and urban air traffic (UAM) have become industry hotspots, and in the future, more small drones, vertical take-off and landing electric aircraft (eVTOLs), etc. will enter low-altitude airspace operation.

"There are more than 8,000 related enterprises in China's low-altitude economy industry, and the overall number of enterprise registrations shows an increasing trend." Gu Rentao told reporters. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the market size of my country's low-altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025, and is expected to reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.

In his opinion, low-altitude economy has expanded the economic territory and application scenarios are growing explosively. He gave an example, grassland monitoring, forest monitoring, power system inspection, road and bridge inspection, etc., the cost and efficiency of manpower monitoring is high and low, but if low-altitude unmanned technology is used, this situation will be greatly changed.

Gu Rentao analyzed that the emergence of low-altitude economy is also giving birth to some technological changes and stimulating related technological research and development. At the same time, it will also drive the development of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, promote the innovation of airspace management models and the vertical integration of the industrial chain such as batteries, data, and services.

The talent gap also emerged. In October 2024, Li Chunlin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in answering employment questions, "According to relevant departments, the employment gap for drone operators in my country is now as high as 1 million."

Gu Rentao pointed out that in fact, operators are only a small piece, and low-altitude technology has broad application prospects in various fields such as national defense, logistics, agriculture, and transportation. All sectors of society have an urgent need for advanced engineering and technical talents in the low-altitude technology field. There is currently a serious imbalance in the supply and demand of talents in the low-altitude economy industry.

"The rise of the low-altitude economy, especially in the fields of logistics, emergency rescue, environmental monitoring, etc., urgently needs the support of professional and technical talents. This industry trend requires us to cultivate professional talents with interdisciplinary knowledge such as low-altitude airspace management, aircraft design, and system integration to meet the needs of industry development." Si Haiqing said.

He further pointed out that by establishing low-altitude technology and engineering majors, the power of universities can be used to help the Civil Aviation Administration better build and improve the low-altitude flight management system, and meet the Civil Aviation Administration's needs for low-altitude airspace management, drone airworthiness certification, low-altitude flight safety, etc.

Boldly adopt a new model to run schools, with different advantages and priorities of each school

There are 6 first batch of universities in the country to lay out low-altitude technology and engineering majors, namely Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, South China University of Technology, and Northwestern Polytechnical University.

The reporter learned that the low-altitude technology and engineering majors of these six universities have their own characteristics. "Some focus on aircraft manufacturing, while others focus on aircraft airspace control, etc.," said an industry insider.

At Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the "Low Altitude Technology and Engineering Major" is planned to be led by the Unmanned Systems Research Institute, jointly built by the School of Flight, the School of Electronic Information Engineering, the School of Aeronautical Science and Engineering, the School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering and the School of Transportation Science and Engineering.

What are the advantages of this design? Meng Zhijun, professor at the School of Aeronautics and Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, pointed out that low-altitude core technologies cover multiple dimensions such as aircraft design, intelligent control, communication navigation, and traffic management, and a single discipline is difficult to support its full-chain development. Therefore, the relevant colleges will provide or coordinate teaching resources such as teachers, laboratories, sites, equipment, etc. for project-based experimental classes, and work with Hangzhou campus and leading low-altitude industry enterprises to jointly establish a multi-disciplinary cross-collaborative innovation practice platform for students majoring in low-altitude technology and engineering to complete theoretical learning and experimental practice in project-based experimental classes.

Beizhou Post has also boldly adopted a new model - cross-college running schools. Gu Rentao revealed, "We found that low-altitude technology and engineering majors are not something that the same college can do, and involve communication networks, intelligent computing, automatic control, mechanical design, etc., so we decided to try to break the boundaries of the college and explore a new training mechanism for top talents in cross-engineering."

Specifically, the physical management of low-altitude technology and engineering majors of Beijing Post relies on the Future College, but behind it is the four colleges of the School of Information and Communication Engineering, the School of Computer Science, the School of Intelligent Engineering and Automation and the School of Artificial Intelligence jointly run the school, bringing together the advantages of the four colleges to provide guarantees for this interdisciplinary major.

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics has also planned and built majors related to low-altitude technology in advance. "Multidisciplinary integration" is a major feature and advantage of China Southern Airlines' low-altitude technology and engineering major. The school has gathered top domestic and foreign faculty, covering multiple directions such as aircraft design, control engineering, air traffic management, intelligent unmanned systems, etc., providing multi-disciplinary teaching and scientific research support for low-altitude technology and engineering majors, meeting the low-altitude economy's demand for training compound talents.

The low-altitude economy and technology major of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications highlights the characteristics of information communication and intelligent computing, focusing on the construction of new information networks and digital bases, focusing on the use of information technology to assist in the control management and related applications of low-altitude aircraft, and building a technical training system for new perception, new communication, new control, and new evaluation equipment for low-altitude economic services.

"Many of the first-line technical needs of low-altitude technology and engineering in the application are new problems. We need to design new training plans around these technical problems, so many courses are new." Gu Rentao introduced that Beijing Post has built a special cross-class course, forming a curriculum system covering low-altitude technology, communication networks, hardware development, artificial intelligence, key software and other directions; at the same time, it has built a school-enterprise practice platform, jointly built an internship and training base with leading domestic enterprises, and created a three-dimensional real training environment... "From scientific research to teaching, it is actually a brand new exploration."

Multi-discipline cross-section and linkage industries to cultivate students' scientific and technological innovation thinking

Many parents and students are curious about how the difference between low-altitude technology and engineering majors are from traditional aviation technology majors?

Si Haiqing explained that low-altitude technology and engineering major integrate cutting-edge knowledge in multiple fields such as aerospace, information and communication technology, automatic control, and artificial intelligence. "In the future, low-altitude airspace will face the challenge of high-density operation of aircraft, requiring professional settings to cover knowledge of airspace management technology, advanced navigation systems, sensor technology, communication protocols, collision avoidance systems, and laws and regulations. At the same time, the integrated operation trend of manned and unmanned aircraft also raises new technical challenges. This requires discipline settings to keep up with the forefront of science and technology and cultivate high-quality talents who can cope with complex airspace environments." He further pointed out that the major of low-altitude technology and engineering is facing the national low-altitude economic strategic needs and the forefront of industry development. Students in this major are required to master the core technologies of low-altitude aircraft and system, and can innovatively solve the complex engineering problems of low-altitude technology in the process of system design, operation, maintenance, supervision, etc., and can also carry out low-altitude system planning and management, low-altitude vehicle air-ground collaboration and intelligent control, low-altitude vehicle digital detection and airworthiness management, low-altitude flight services and safety guarantees, etc.

Gu Rentao pointed out that the low-altitude economic industry involves cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross-disciplinary cross- "We have been sorting out the relevant technology trees and knowledge maps. This is not only the core basis for building a top talent training system, but also an important support for planning the scientific research directions related to low-altitude technology, and ultimately promoting the integrated development of "education, science and technology, and talents" in the low-altitude field." Gu Rentao said.

Meng Zhijun introduced that at Beihang University, students will jointly carry out low-altitude aircraft project practice, form multi-disciplinary and cross-professional project-based experimental classes, and implement small-class, tutor-based, and project-based training models.

Beihang will make up for the shortcomings through reconstructing the curriculum system, joint training of schools and enterprises, and building a practical platform, so that students can not only have the full-process R&D capabilities of low-altitude aircraft in the undergraduate stage, but also meet the requirements of manufacturing, airworthiness, operation and maintenance and even entrepreneurship, and grow into multi-directional and multi-level compound top-notch innovative talents and leading talents in the low-altitude industry.

"After the arrival of the era of artificial intelligence, it will become an inevitable trend in the future for humans and machines to collaborate on specific tasks. Therefore, we are vigorously promoting systematic reforms in majors, courses, practices, and textbooks, building an educational system of "multi-school integration + human-machine collaboration", and enhancing students to use artificial intelligence tools to solve complex engineering problems." Gu Rentao said.

At the same time, Gu Rentao proposed that he hopes students have a scientific and technological thinking model. "The low-altitude economy gives a good 'real problem', which can abstract real complex scenarios to train students' ability to solve complex problems." In addition, he believes that it is also very important to cultivate students' critical thinking, and plans to add economic courses to the curriculum system. "The development of engineering technology is closely related to economic models and trends. If students cannot judge the development trend of the industry, it will be difficult to correctly grasp the evolution direction of technology."

"Whether it is scientific research or teaching, we take industrial demand as the first factor and build a high-level science and technology innovation practice platform through close school-enterprise linkage." This is also a point that Beihang University emphasizes in the construction of low-altitude economic majors.

Candidates must have a certain mathematical foundation and have broad employment prospects in the future

The reporter learned that the major of low-altitude technology and engineering at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications will conduct the first batch of enrollment in 2025, with a scale of 60 students, and will be managed in entity by the Future College. In terms of training model, Beijing Post will create a high-end experimental class at a low altitude and implement a "dynamic diversion, priority recommendation and exemption" mechanism. Students who meet the training requirements and school regulations can be given priority to obtain postgraduate recommendation and exemption qualifications. Those with outstanding comprehensive qualities can be selected to transfer to the "Yuan Class" to implement integrated training.

"It is recommended that candidates who are interested in low-altitude economic related fields and are interested in further studies or employment in low-altitude economic industries in the future apply. The cross-type of this major has certain requirements for the basics of mathematics and physics. It is recommended that candidates who choose physics and chemistry are the first choice to apply." Gu Rentao introduced.

"We require students to have excellent math and physics grades, strong logical thinking, innovative consciousness and teamwork skills, and have a strong interest in aerospace and interdisciplinary disciplines." Meng Zhijun said.

Si Haiqing introduced that China Southern Airlines is expected to recruit about 30 students in low-altitude technology and engineering in 2025. Following the principle of "strengthening foundation and wide caliber", China Southern Airlines will implement the "2.5+1.5" "professional training and professional direction" talent training model in this major. Set up two major directions: low-altitude digital detection and certification, low-altitude flight service and guarantee.

Many interviewees were optimistic about the employment direction and prospects of future graduates in this major. "In the future, graduates can serve drone manufacturing enterprises, air control departments at all levels, airworthiness certification agencies and other related units in the fields of low-altitude aircraft manufacturing and R&D, airspace management and flight operations, airworthiness certification and testing," said Si Haiqing.

Meng Zhijun said that through project training, students can find employment in various positions such as R&D, manufacturing, operation services, and industry supervision of the low-altitude industrial chain, which is accurately matched with the talent needs of low-altitude related enterprises. "The advantage of graduates in this major lies in their interdisciplinary practice background of low-altitude aircraft project system, which can make up for the current shortcomings of high-end technical talents and compound management talents."

Gu Rentao's judgment is that the entire industry is in an emerging development period, and the overall talent demand gap is large. As the first batch of professional talents in low-altitude technology direction cultivated by the country, the employment prospects are very broad.

He further analyzed that at present, relevant scientific research institutions, government-enterprise services, and key enterprises in the low-altitude economy field have a large talent gap. Graduates can engage in scientific research in cross-fields involved in the low-altitude economic industry in scientific research institutions (domestic related research institutes, research institutions, universities); in the fields of government and enterprise services, research institutes, enterprises, institutions, and government departments in the fields of national defense, transportation, land, surveying and mapping, environmental protection, etc., engaged in low-altitude navigation planning, traffic air control, digital planning, design, construction, technology research and development and management positions; in key enterprises, including telecom operators, Internet companies, low-altitude intelligent transportation/air control enterprises, drone research and development and manufacturing enterprises, etc., they engage in low-altitude related software platforms, information networks, information management, artificial intelligence, digital map systems and other technical development work.