Abstract: The rapid development of emerging fields such as information technology, micro/nano technology and biotechnology in the 21st century has brought opportunities and challenges to the cultivation of talents in the field of mechanics. This paper briefly introduces the basic concepts and the development of idea of university, as well as its evolution in China. By analyzing the needs of social development and the frontier of mechanics research, it is shown that the cultivation objective for the mechanics undergraduate program should be innovative talents with broad humanistic qualities and profound professional knowledge. Based on the experiences of growing undergraduate students majored in theoretical and applied mechanics in Shanghai University in the past 20 years, this paper presents some suggestions to achieve this goal.