A Study on the Implementation Pathways for Integrating the Smart Manufacturing Engineering Major with Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the in-depth implementation of the “Made in China 2025” strategy, the comprehensive advancement of new engineering disciplines, and the implementation of the 2026 “Implementation Guidelines for the ‘AI+ Manufacturing’ Special Action,” the deep integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education with professional education in the field of intelligent manufacturing engineering represents a core direction for educational reform aimed at supporting the high-end, intelligent, and green transformation of the manufacturing sector. This paper systematically reviews the theoretical research findings and policy frameworks regarding the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship with professional education in the field of intelligent manufacturing from 2020 to 2026. By analyzing industry-education integration case studies from leading domestic institutions and incorporating the latest talent demand trends in the intelligent manufacturing sector, the paper explores implementation pathways, existing challenges, and optimization strategies for this integration. The study finds that while three mainstream models of integration have emerged in the field of smart manufacturing, common challenges persist, including conceptual disconnect, superficial course integration, ineffective school-enterprise collaboration mechanisms, and insufficient faculty capabilities. Reform must be systematically advanced across four dimensions: restructuring the curriculum system, improving school-enterprise collaboration mechanisms, strengthening the faculty, and establishing a diversified evaluation system. Ultimately, this will achieve the synergistic enhancement of students’ professional and innovation-entrepreneurship competencies, thereby supplying the manufacturing sector with versatile innovative talent to support high-quality development.