Qiqihar Institute of Engineering is a full-time applied undergraduate institute with a focus on engineering disciplines and moderate development in management, medicine, art and other disciplines. It is the only private university in China whose staff have with administrative level and institutional establishment. The Institute passed the Qualification Assessment of Undergraduate Teaching Work by the Ministry of Education in 2019.

In 1991, Cao Yong'an, the Deputy Director of the Education Department of Qiqihar No.1 Machine Tool Factory, founded the private Heilongjiang Dongya University. In 1993, he merged the factory’s college, and signed a separation contract with the factory at the end of that year, embarking on the path of private education development of "independent education, self funding, self-improvement, and self-development", opening the precedent for the national "public to private" education system reform. In March 2001, the Institute became one of the first vocational colleges in Heilongjiang, named Qiqihar Vocational College. In 2011, the Institute was approved by the Ministry of Education to be upgraded to a regular undergraduate college and renamed Qiqihar Institute of Engineering, becoming the first municipal undergraduate university in Qiqihar.

The Institute has always adhered to the socialist direction of education, fully implemented the educational policy of the Communist Party of China, and insisted on non-profit public welfare education, creating two cases that have influenced the development of private education in China ("mixed ownership education" and "entrusted management of the colleges ", the latter of which has been included in the "National Medium - and Long Term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010-2020)").

The total area of the school is 852100 square meters, with a building area of 344800 square meters. There are 123 undergraduate experimental and internship venues built on campus. The total value of teaching and research instruments and equipment is 86.7524 million yuan. There are 959200 hard-copy books and 429000 electronic books in the collection. The total area of indoor and outdoor sports venues is 66400 square meters. There are 8642 full-time students currently, equivalent to 8843.6 students in school. There are 566 faculty members, including 352 full-time teachers (with a student-teacher ratio of 18.7:1).

Guided by the needs of local economic and social development, the institute continuously optimizes the layout of disciplines and majors, and has seven secondary teaching units including the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, the Department of Architecture and Management Engineering, the Department of Information Engineering, the Department of Health and Nursing Engineering, and the College of Marxism. The institute offers 23 undergraduate majors; approved 2 major construction sites of provincial-level first-class undergraduate, 4 provincial-level first-class undergraduate courses, 5 courses selected as provincial-level ideological and political demonstration courses and teaching team cultivation projects, 3 provincial-level teaching achievement awards (1 first prize), 1 provincial-level modern industry college (first batch), and 10 industry-university cooperation collaborative education projects approved by Ministry of Education, 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, and 4 third prizes awarded in the Provincial College Teachers' Teaching Innovation Competition.

Establish the Institute on diligence, innovate the Institute with curriculum, administer the Institute with culture and revitalize the Institute with spirit, with such faith passing from one generation to another generation, holding such a purpose, the Institute has always adhered to the "student-centered" educational philosophy, established the work policy of "being guided by Party building, implementing three all-round education jointly and thoroughly", through such policy as “career mentor system for all staff”, setting up Education Quality Awards, and striving to cultivate applied and professional entrepreneurs with lofty aspirations, sound personality, solid foundation, obvious talents, courage to innovate, and good practical skills. More than 50000 graduates have been trained and delivered to society, and a group of outstanding graduates have emerged, represented by the "Great Country Craftsman" Wang Gang, host operator of "Hualong One", Yao Xuan, rescuer on the super highway, and Yu Hanxuan, rescuer high up on the airplane. The employment rate of graduates' ranks the top among colleges and universities in Heilongjiang province. The Secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute was invited to give a speech on typical Party building experiences at the National Conference on the Deep Integration and Exchange of Party Building and Career Development in Private Universities.

Guided by service job needs and improving professional abilities, the Institute adheres to the talent cultivation model of "government-school-enterprise cooperation, industry-academia-research integration, teaching-learning-practicing unification", relying on industrial colleges development, exploring the establishment of off-campus classrooms in majors from Nursing, Equipment Manufacturing and Construction, expanding the time and space through dual education, incubating innovation and entrepreneurship projects, integrating "curriculum-innovation-competition", and realizing the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education throughout the entire process of talent cultivation. In the past three years, 155 provincial-level and above innovation projects have been approved, including 25 national level projects, achieving full majors’ coverage. It has won over 150 awards in province- and ministration-level discipline competitions, with more than 4000 winners; 16,000 participants participated in China International College Students Innovation Competition, winning 120 awards at or above the provincial level (including 3 provincial gold awards). In 2023, 1992 applications were submitted, with a registration completion rate of 330.35%. The Institute ranked first among competitor universities in the province and was awarded the Excellent Organization Award. The award rate in 2024 is 96.3%, ranking first among private universities in the province. In October 2015, the school was selected as the first "National Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week" as a "Basic Entrepreneurship Education Incubation Platform" and was the only local university to participate in the exhibition; In September 2016, the College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park was recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a national level maker space. In 2023, it was awarded the title of "Heilongjiang Province Entrepreneurship Incubation Demonstration Base" by the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security. In 2024, it was awarded the title of "Nursery Incubation Base" by the national level technology enterprise incubator Gaoxinzhigu.

The Institute adheres to a demand-oriented curriculum concept and initiated the establishment of a nationwide applied curriculum construction alliance in January 2015. In April of the following year, it jointly established a curriculum construction collaborative innovation center with the School Planning and Construction Development Center of the Ministry of Education. It has developed the "Four Principles and Three Methods(FT)" course construction model, developed the enterprise standard "Course Development Guide", and collaborated with a company in Shenzhen to develop the intelligent system for course development -- “Curriculum Channel”, which has played a positive role in promoting the construction of applied university courses nationwide. Since 2021, more than 50 FT course development workshops have been held, attracting over 4000 teachers from more than 200 universities across the country. The course "Construction Model and Practice of the FT Curriculum" has been included in the postgraduate training courses of higher education at Lanzhou University, Xiamen University, and Northeast Petroleum University. The "Applied Course Development Innovation Studio" has been awarded the title of "Labor Model and Craftsman Talent Innovation Studio of Heilongjiang Province Education, Science, Culture, Health, Sports System". Professor Cao Yong'an, the founding president of QIE, was awarded the title of "Outstanding Educator of China in the New Era in 2022" for his dedication to education, deep cultivation of curriculum, rooted in local culture, forward-looking approach, and pioneering of the FT curriculum development model.

The Institute attaches great importance to international exchange and cooperation, and has established friendly cooperative relationships with more than ten foreign universities in countries such as the United States, Russia, South Korea, and Japan. It actively carries out exchanges and cooperation in teaching, research, and other aspects, selects excellent teachers to visit the United States for study, and hires foreign professors to teach undergraduate students. The Institute has been invited to attend international conferences to exchange experiences in curriculum reform multiple times, and has organized five batches of "Applied Curriculum Overseas Exchange and Investigation " to visit and exchange with relevant universities in countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France.