On October 15th, the on-site finals of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition (CICSIC) 2024 concluded at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. YSU made history once again by winning the gold medal in the Competition, the first gold medal ever for Hebei colleges and universities in International Project in the Higher Education Main Category! YSU bagged one gold medal, two silver medals, and eight bronze medals, representing its best performance in this event to date.
Three projects from YSU made it to the on-site finals in this year’s competition. The projects “Digital Intelligence Empowerment - Green, Intelligent and High-Quality Bar Production” and “IBP - Full Process Online Intelligent Control”, submitted by Professor Peng Yan’s team from the School of Mechanical Engineering, were awarded the gold medal and the silver medal, respectively, a first-ever gold medal for Hebei universities in International Project in the Higher Education Main Category. Also, the project “Development and Validation of Optimal Efficiency Operation Strategies for Alkaline Water Electrolyzers Designed for Fluctuating Renewable Energy Supply”, submitted by Professor Guo Xiaoqiang’s team from the School of Electrical Engineering, received a silver medal in the Industrial Category.
Group photo of the participating team from YSU
YSU has always placed a premium on organizing our students and faculty to participate in the CICSIC competition (formerly known as the “Internet+” Competition). We view this event as a great opportunity to advance reform in innovation and entrepreneurship education. To make sure we come out on top in the competition, the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education put together a comprehensive plan with scientific strategies to engage students in the competition and prepare them for success. This involved picking the most promising projects for development, encouraging broad participation from our students, and focusing on achieving major breakthroughs. They handpicked 17 key projects for early-stage nurturing. At the same time, they got together exemplary project teams to apply for the International Project Category and Industrial Category, paving the way for our success in the competition. Since this year’s competition kicked off, the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education has devised and implemented comprehensive plans and conducted meticulous organization, with various schools striving to encourage broad student participation. A total of 1,345 teams and nearly 10,000 students signed up to participate. In the preparation phase, the Center invited judges from national and provincial competitions and in-house experts to run dozens of project refinement sessions, both online and offline. These sessions offered sound advice for project optimization, roadshow training, and PPT design. This process helped constantly enhance the core competitiveness of our participating projects and ensure high standards of project quality and team presentation. In particular, the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education collaborated closely with the School of Mechanical Engineering and arranged Italian students involved in the International Project Category to come back to China and compete in the on-site finals, providing the teams all the support and backing they needed. During the Q&A session of the on-site finals, the YSU team showcased a broad international perspective, great innovative ideas, and remarkable innovative achievements, ultimately securing one gold and two silver medals.
Following winning the first-ever gold medal for Hebei universities in the Higher Education Main Category in 2021, YSU made another historic breakthrough by winning the first-ever gold medal in the International Project Category for Hebei Universities in this year's CICSIC. Also, the gold medal represents another significant achievement as our university aligns with the new strategies and requirements for building a nation with strong education. This includes fully implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue and nurturing talent, advancing integrated reforms in educational, technological, and talent development mechanisms, and actively promoting innovation education across all educational activities. Moreover, it marks another milestone in our ongoing efforts to focus on major landmark achievements in innovation and entrepreneurship education. YSU has been committed to integrating five innovative approaches - entrepreneurial thinking, innovation in specialized fields, scientific research innovation, industrial innovation, and regional innovation - under the framework of “six divisions, one thousand projects, seventy competitions, four forums, two camps, and three platforms”. We have constructed a “Trinity” innovation and entrepreneurship education system centered around first-class innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. The achievement in the CICSIC competition is a testament to our success in this endeavor. This also demonstrates that our university is now among the top universities in Hebei Province and in China at large in terms of our competitive edge in major innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, our capacity for nurturing high-caliber innovative talents, and our international reputation in innovation and entrepreneurship education. Going forward, we will redouble our efforts to follow up on and support the gold medal-winning project from the CICSIC finals, capitalize on the competition to enhance talent development, and cultivate capable young professionals with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Apart from that, the gold medal won in the International Project Category has reinforced our commitment to engaging in international high-level innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, exploring the establishment of international projects and platforms in innovation and entrepreneurship, continuously broadening the international perspective of our students, further improving our innovation and entrepreneurship education system, and enhancing our ability to cultivate top-notch innovative talents.
The CICSIC 2024 competition was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education and 11 other government departments and organizations, in partnership with the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. The event was hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the People’s Government of Minhang District. A total of 5,140,000 projects were submitted for the competition, with 20,836,000 student participants representing 5,406 universities from 153 countries and regions worldwide. To date, YSU has been awarded a total of three gold medals, ten silver medals, and 39 bronze medals at the CICSIC finals. The total number of gold medals awarded places us at the top among colleges and universities in Hebei Province.
