The development of new engineering education has greatly promoted the teaching reform of higher education in China and it is an important measure to help build a powerful nation of higher education. The universities should deepen the teaching reform in education aim, training ideology and teaching methods. Strengthening the cultivation of students’ engineering application ability is an important part of deepening the teaching reform in universities. Advanced engineering thermodynamics, as a basic theory course with strong engineering application, could be regarded as an important entry point for the cultivation of graduate students’ ability to integrate theory with practice. Through the training concept of “new engineering disciplines” talents, this paper discusses a “four-in-one” teaching mode of advanced engineering thermodynamics, including frontier teaching and extension, engineering case design, research project exploration, and comprehensive ability assessment. In this teaching mode, graduate students are encouraged to study and explore independently, and an integrated learning and research community of teacher and students is formed. Finally, the practice platform of cultivating graduate students’ engineering innovation ability is formed with the mutual promotion of teaching, learning, and research, and the students’ engineering application and innovation abilities are enhanced.