This discipline originated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the former Gezhouba Institute of Hydropower Engineering in 1978, opened 4 undergraduate majors such as mechanical design and manufacturing and its automation (national characteristic major, excellent engineer program of the Ministry of Education), mechanical and electronic engineering, and established 5 second-level master's programs such as mechanical design and theory, mechanical manufacturing and automation, mechanical and electronic engineering, vehicle engineering, industrial engineering, etc., with 3 Chutian scholar positions, and the first-level discipline of mechanical engineering was approved as a key discipline in Hubei Province.