The Civil Engineering discipline, one of the earliest disciplines at first in QUT, is derived from the Senior Engineering Department of Lixian Middle School set in 1931, which upgraded as the Architectural Engineering undergraduate discipline with the establishment of Department of Architectural Engineering in 1978. In 1998, Architectural Engineering and Traffic Engineering were merged to be Civil Engineering, and the Architectural Engineering Department was accordingly renamed as Civil Engineering Department. In 2002, responding to the development of QUT, School of Civil Engineering was established based on Civil Engineering Department.

The school now has 1 first-level discipline authorized to confer doctoral degree, 1 postdoctoral research station and 2 first-level disciplines authorized to confer in Civil Engineering and Material Science and Engineering. Civil Engineering, as a traditionally strong major, is a National Characteristic Major, a Model Major of Shandong and a Characteristic Major of Universities of Shandong, and it has passed the undergraduate education evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Housing in 2009. After years of rapid development, the School of Civil Engineering has already become an important base for cultivation of qualified talents, scientific research and technology innovation in the civil engineering field of China.

The school has a strong faculty team of teaching experience and high scientific research and innovation capacity with 140 teaching staff. There are 108 full-time teachers with 95 of them being doctors, including 30 professors, 38 associate professors and 40 lecturers. Also, there are 1 “National Renowned Teacher”, 1 candidates of the “100-, 1000- and 10000-talent Plan”, 2 Taishan Scholars, 2 Young Experts with special contribution of Shandong Province, 5 teachers enjoying the special allowance from the State Council, 5 Renowned Teachers of Shandong Province, 2 Chief Experts in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province and 6 Qingdao Top technology talents. 4 academicians, Wittmann, Zheng Yinren, Zheng Yaoru and Hou Baorong, are recruited as Visiting professors in the school.

The School has 1 National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, 1 Engineering Center of the Ministry of Education, 1 Provincial Key Laboratory, 3 Provincial Key Disciplines, 3 Provincial Engineering Technology Center, 1 Computer Center. In recent years, the school has undertaken more than 300 national and provincial programs, including the National 973 Plan, National 863 Plan, NSFC, etc, completed a series of technology and application researches based on significant construction projects, such as Three Gorges Project, Olympic Projects, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Jiaozhou Bay Subsea Tunnel, Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, Qingdao Metro and Qingdao Expo Park. It also has been awarded 5 Prizes for National Scientific and Technological Progress, 40 Provincial Prizes for Scientific and Technological Progress, and published more than 300 papers which are included by SCI, EI, ISTP.

The School of Civil Engineering focus to the teaching-centered mode, paying high attention to the basic position of undergraduate education, establishing the monitoring process for teaching quality and improving the teaching management rules. It focuses on reforms of personnel training mode, curriculum system, course content and teaching method, boosts the deep education reform, and promotes education and talent quality all the way.

At present, there are 1 National Characteristic Major, 1 Provincial Model Major, 3 Provincial Teaching Teams, 2 National Excellent Courses, 1 National Video Open Course, 2 National Bilingual Teaching Demonstration Courses, 1 Provincial Excellent Course Group, 5 Provincial Excellent Courses in School of Civil Engineering. 1 second prize of the National Teaching Achievement and 13 Provincial Excellent Teaching Achievements have been awarded and 30 textbooks have been published in the school. The undergraduates of it have won 192 provincial and national awards in national science and technology competitions, such as “challenge cup” competition, mathematical modeling competition, structural design competition, etc.

Since Civil Engineering was established in 1978, the school has already cultivated nearly 10,000 graduates, who have worked in government agencies, enterprise and public institution, design organizations and scientific research institutions related to nation-wide capital construction and made great  contribution to the economic development of Shandong  and even the country.