the meeting announcing the founding of the beijing institute of aeronautics (bia) was held in the auditorium of beijing institute of technology on october 25, 1952. in the early days of the university, most of the faculty and students lived on campuses of tsinghua university and beijing institute of technology before they moved on to their own new campus, which was chosen in may, 1953 and located at the baiyanzhuang village, haidian district, in the western suburb of beijing. construction of campus buildings started on june 1, 1953. more than 60,000m of buildings were completed within six months. by october 1953, all students and some of the faculty had moved to the new campus and started their daily work and study. initially, there were two departments with 4 majors: aeroplane design and aeroplane technology in the department of aeroplane engineering, and engine design and engine technology in the department of aeroplane engine engineering.