Updated: October 22, 2024
From October 12 to 15, the Grand Final of the 2024 China International College Students’ Innovation Competition was held in Shanghai Jiaotong University(SJTU), Shanghai, China.
The final, jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, relevant state departments, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, was co-hosted by SJTU and the People’s Government of Minhang District. Featuring five tracks— including the Main Higher Education Track, the “Youth Red Dream Building Journey” Track, the Vocational Education Track, the Industrial Proposition Track, and the Emerging Track—the competition attracted 5.14 million projects and over 20 million participants from 5,406 universities across 153 countries. After five months of rigorous selection, 1,410 projects advanced to the final on-site round.
The Desert Soilization Technology Research Team from Chongqing Jiaotong University(CQJTU) competed in the “Youth Red Dream Building Journey” track with their project titled “Transforming Sand into Soil, Turning Grass into Grain—Strengthening Ecological Barriers and Ensuring Food Security.”
Composed mainly of doctoral and master’s students in eco-mechanics, along with undergraduates from the ecological mechanics-focused class, and guided by professors Yi Zhijian, Ma Yinhua, Peng Kai, Peng Xiaojuan, Feng Ruisheng, and Li Yuanhui, the team won a remarkable second place in their group, securing a national gold medal—CQJTU’s first award in this track.
Chongqing Municipal Commission of Education and CQJTU placed high importance on the event. Since March 2024, CQJTU’s Office of Academic Affairs organized multiple rounds of expert reviews and targeted instructions to refine the project proposal.
Leveraging the team’s strengths in integrating education, research, and industry, the Ecological Environment Research Center provided comprehensive support in developing and optimizing the project, selecting instructors, building the team, and coordinating resources.
With intensive competition preparations, team members balanced their study and research. They frequently worked hard in the lab, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and refining solutions, while also making repeated trips to desert soilization experimental bases—such as those in Ulan Buh Desert and Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia, and Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang—to collect soilized sand samples, soil testing, and conduct trials on forage cultivation. Cheerfully, their efforts yielded breakthroughs in both technological innovation and industrial applications, truly embodying the scientist’s spirit - “writing research papers across the vast lands of China.”
Upon the announcement of the results, Jiang Yunfang, member of the Chongqing Municipal Education Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Municipal Education Commission, extended her congratulations to all Chongqing teams, with special recognition for CQJTU’s gold medal achievement. She took a commemorative photo with team representatives Nie Qixia, Ru Nan and Zhu Tangwei, Professor Ma Yinhua from the Ecological Environment Research Center, and Yin Lu from the Office of Academic Affairs.
As the most prestigious, large-scale, and influential innovation competition for youth since the National Conference on Education, the China International College Students Innovation Competition serves as a global platform for entrepreneurial exchange and collaboration, aiming to promote the development of students.
