Lanzhou Jiaotong University, School of Mechanical Engineering (former Department of Mechanical of Lanzhou Railway Institute) was established in 1958 with a profound history, through the combination of departments and sections from two Chinese railway institutes: Tangshan Railway Institute (the present Southwest Jiaotong University ) and Beijing Railway Institute (the present Beijing Jiaotong University ). Two undergraduate majors of Diesel Locomotives and Railway Vehicles were set up and enrolled in that year. In 1979, the major of Mechanical Manufacturing Process and Equipment began to admit new students, and in 1986, It was granted the right to confer master’s degrees in rolling stock.In 2001, the name was changed to Lanzhou Railway Institute of Electromechanical and Power Engineering thorough the withdrawal of the former departments and the establishment of the new institutes (Party Committee Office of Lanzhou Railway Institute [2001]No. 7). In 2003, Lanzhou Railway Institute was renamed to Lanzhou Jiaotong University, the School renamed as Mechanical Engineering at the same time(Lanzhou Jiaotong University [2003] No. 123).In 2005, two doctoral programs in Vehicle Engineering and Carrier Utilization Engineering were obtained, and in 2010, the first-level doctoral program in Mechanical Engineering was approved. In 2012, the post-doctoral research station in Mechanical Engineering was approved.

At present, the School has developed into a second-level school with a postdoctoral research station as well as the right to confer doctoral, master's and bachelor's degrees, and is one of the construction units of the breakthrough project of national first-class disciplines in transportation engineering. Based in Gansu, serving the railroads and facing the whole country, the School has achieved a number of high-level scientific research achievements represented by the Second Prize of the National Natural Science, the Second Prize of the National Scientific and Technological Progress and the Third Prize of the National Technological Invention over the past sixty-six years. In 2007, the School signed an academic exchange agreement and memorandum of understanding with University of Fukui in Japan and selected outstanding undergraduates to study at University of Fukui .The school has cultivated and natured over 29,000 graduates of bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctoral degree. In the past five years, the employment of graduates is good, and more than 70% of them worked for enterprises in the rail transportation industry.

The School boasts a faculty of 188 members, among whom 155 are on the regular staff, including 29 full professors, 74 associate professors, and 42 lecturers and engineers. Among these, 84 hold a Doctor of Philosophy degree and 45 possess a master's degree. The School has 23 doctoral supervisors, 1 dual-appointed academician, 2 professors were introduced in flexibly, 1 national candidate for the project of millions of talents, 1 national model teacher, 2 Gansu Province “Flying Scholars”chair professors, 1 Gansu Province “Flying Scholars” special professors , 1 Gansu Province “Flying Scholars” young scholar, 5 Gansu Province higher education teaching masters , 15 talents of Gansu Province “333”talent project candidates, “555”talent project candidates, Gansu Province leading talent candidates.The total number of students enrolled in the school is 4,453, including 3,623 undergraduates, 743 master's degree candidates and 87 doctoral degree candidates.

The School has 6 undergraduate majors: Vehicle Engineering, Mechanical Design and Manufacturing and its Automation, Measurement and Control Technology and Instrumentation, Mechatronics Engineering, Energy and Power Engineering, and Industrial Engineering, these 6 majors has formed a group of rail transportation specialties; 2 doctoral degree programs in Mechanical Engineering, and Carrier Utilization Engineering; and 5 master's degree programs in Mechanical Engineering, Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics, and Carrier Utilization Engineering, Mechanical (Professional Degree), Energy Power (Professional Degree), and Energy and Power Engineering. There are 5 master's degree programs.Vehicle Engineering and Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation are two majors designated as national first-class undergraduate professional construction sites. Energy and Power Engineering for the provincial first-class undergraduate professional construction sites, Measurement and Control Technology and Instrumentation for Gansu Province higher education characteristics of the specialty, Vehicle Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology and Instrumentation of the two majors have passed the professional certification of engineering education.The Mechanical Engineering discipline was rated as a Class B discipline in the fourth round of disciplinary assessment by the Ministry of Education. In 2019, the major was selected as Gansu Province “double first-class”characteristics of the construction project. Mechanical Engineering disciplines, Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics are provincial key disciplines.

The main research directions of the discipline are dynamics and control of rail transportation systems, thermal theory and technology of railway vehicles, aerodynamics and environmental effects of high-speed trains, new materials and engineering applications of rail transportation equipment, intelligent equipment technology and green manufacturing.The scientific research platforms we mainly rely on include the National Green Coating Technology and Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center, the Key Laboratory of Railway Vehicle Thermal Engineering of the Ministry of Education, the Key Laboratory of System Dynamics and Reliability of Railway Transportation Equipment of Gansu Province, the Key Laboratory of Railway Transportation Service Environment and Intelligent Operation and Maintenance of Gansu Province, the Engineering Laboratory of Railway Transportation Mechanics Application of Gansu Province, and the Industry Technology Center of Railway Transportation Equipment New Technology of Gansu Province.The railroad industry innovation bases of the State Railway Administration are: “High-speed Magnetic Levitation Technology and Equipment Railway Industry Engineering Research Center” of Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. “High-speed Magnetic Levitation Technology and Equipment Railway Industry Engineering Research Center”, “Higher Speed Rolling Stock System Integration Railway Industry Engineering Research Center” of Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. The School has 90 teaching and research laboratories covering 24,000 square meters and 21 teaching and internship bases jointly built by Lanzhou Jiaotong University and enterprises, supporting the School to become the first members of the “National Industry-Education Integration Community for Railway Transportation Equipment Industry”.During the “13th Five-Year Plan”period, the School undertook 220 national, provincial and ministerial level and horizontal scientific research projects, including the sub-projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology's Advanced Railway Transportation Science and Technology Special Project, and the sub-projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Major Projects;It published over 650 papers and won 12 Provincial Scientific and Technological Progress Awards. The Faculty has made outstanding contributions to the university's engineering discipline to enter the ranks of high-level international disciplines, and ranked first in terms of sub-discipline contribution.

The School will continue to uphold the motto of “Virtue, Dedication, Innovation and Seek Righteousness”, insist on promoting the spirit of “Nail” of the railroad, and promote the high quality development of the School in accordance with the principles of “Value Leadership, Service Demand, Problem Orientation, Inheritance and Innovation, and Demonstration and Driving”. We will promote the high-quality development of the School and support the construction of high-level universities and first-class disciplinesThe School will focus on serving the rail transportation and modern equipment manufacturing industries, and catering to the internationalization requirements of these industries. Adhering to the principle of cultivating people with moral integrity, focusing on the implementation of the construction of first-class disciplines and characteristic disciplines, relying on the results of faculty construction, platform construction and scientific research output to support the construction of undergraduate majors, and striving to cultivate applied senior engineering and technical talents who are adapted to the needs of the national development, who have a sense of social responsibility, a spirit of innovation, and an international outlook, and who have all-rounded development of morality, intellectuality, physicality, aesthetics and labor.