This summer, the weather has been very hot, especially in Chongqing. Despite this, students of Chongqing University have actively participated in various innovation competitions held across the country. Those innovation and technology competitions for college students have gradually come to an end successively, and CQU students achieved great results, with goods news still to come, which demonstrates CQU students’ positive attitude and enhances the social reputation of the University.

On July 21, the 10^th “Higher Education Cup” National Advanced Plotting Technique and Product Information Modeling Innovation Competition for College Students is jointly held by the Teaching Guiding Committee for Engineering Graphics Course in Colleges and Universities under the Ministry of Education in Lanzhou Jiaotong University. The Competition is a top-class national competition for graphics courses in China, and is deemed as a grand event in China’s graphics sector. More than 2,900 students and candidates from more than 200 colleges and universities have participated in the Competition, both of the two numbers setting a new record. After the preparatory training and selection, the University has formed two delegations of 41 members, the architecture delegation and the mechanics delegation, to participate in the Competition. In total, the architecture delegation has won 2 first prizes for the team; the mechanics delegation has won 2 second prizes for the team; 23 students including Zhang Yingyu and Huang Yugeng have won the first prize for individuals. In particular, Zhang Yingyu also has won the first prize for all rounders, ranking the first place nationwide. Li Yang and Liu Xinyu and other 13 students have won the second prize for individuals.

On August 11, the Final of the 10^th National Energy Conservation Social Practice and Technology Competition sponsored by the Department of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and organized by North China Electric Power University is brought to a successful close. More than 300 colleges and universities, including Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University Xi’an Jiaotong University, have participated in the Competition with their 3,196 pieces of successfully declared valid works, the two numbers both hitting a new high. The Competition is composed of 4 parts, namely, online appraisal, appraisal by experts, on-site exhibition and defense. The works of the team led by Ran Mingchu from the School of Power Engineering of CQU, named “A kind of online auto-exciting self-stabilizing tubular heat exchanger and enhanced heat transfer device capable of effective resistance reduction” has won the national outstanding prize (first place), which is the best results gained by CQU ever in the Competition; the works of the 3D printing team named “a kind of extremely simple energy conserving 3D printer based on the cylindrical coordinate transmission locating” has won the national first prize, and this is the second time that the team has been chosen one of the national finalists and won the first prize; the works of the team led by Jiang Pengcheng from the School of Power Engineering named “the self-powered turbo charged gasoline engine that improves the small-load economy through the speed-controllable compressor” and the works of the team led by Xu Baowei from the School of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering named “the advertisement lighting adjustment system based on the railway tunnel piston flow” have respectively won the national second prize. The University has also been granted the National Outstanding Organization Award.

On August 12, the “Theoretical Design and Operation” Team Competition as part of the 11^th National Zhou Peiyuan Mechanics Competition for College Students as sponsored by the Teaching Guiding Committee for Mechanics in Colleges and Universities under the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Zhou Peiyuan Foundation, and organized by Hunan University and the Editorial Committee of Mechanics and Practice was brought to a successful close. Participants in the Individual Competition have been invited by the Organizing Committee to the Team Competition based on their rankings directly. In the Individual Competition as part of the 11^th National Zhou Peiyuan Mechanics Competition for College Students held in May 2017, Chongqing University students won 2 first prizes (48 totally nationwide), 1 second prizes (72 totally nationwide), and 52 third prizes. With their outstanding individual results, 5 students have been invited to the national team competition. Those 5 students cooperated with each other and eventually obtained satisfactory results. The team ranked the 9^th place among the 43 universities in the Competition and was awarded the national third prize.

During August 13 and 18, the 8^th National Academic Competition of Physics for College Students was held at Harbin Institute of Technology. The Competition is an academic one focusing on physics for undergraduates, and consists of team academic report, discussion, debate and confrontation. At the closing ceremony, the Nobel Prize winners in physics of 2004, and the current chair of American Physical Society Professor David Gross delivered an academic report on invitation. A total of 74 delegations from 73 colleges and universities participated in the Competition and another 27 colleges and universities were present as audiences. The Competition was intense and eventually the team led by Wu Xiaozhi, an academic adviser of School of Physics of CQU won the national second prize.

During August 20 and 23, the Final of “ECEC-Shaanxi Drum Cup” 11^th National Chemical Engineering Design Competition for College Students sponsored by Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China and the Teaching Guiding Committee for Chemical Engineering Majors in Colleges and Universities under the Ministry of Education was held in Zhejiang University. A total of 1,019 teams from 287 universities across the country submitted works for. After the preliminary and final of different competition areas, 60 teams from 60 universities, including Zhejiang University, Tianjin University, Sichuan University, Chongqing University and Dalian University of Technology chosen national finalists. “The Rainbow Team”, led by 5 teachers of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, including Li Xueming, Xian Xiaochao, Hu Xiaohua, Dong Lichun and Wei Shun’an, won the national first prize. Furthermore, the “Ecotopia Team” of CQU won the national second prize. “Liuxing Huayuan Team”, “Peanut Team” and “Liu’an Huaming Team” respectively won the national third prize. Since 2010, CQU has for 8 consecutive years won the national first prize and a higher prize (in 2013, CQU won the national special prize).

On August 22, the comprehensive assessment of competition areas as part of the National Electronic Design Competition for College Students organized by the Organizing Committee of the National Electronic Design Competition for College Students as commissioned by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Department of Personnel and Education under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was finished. The biannual competition features significant influence, extensive recognition and vast number of participators and it is also one of the two competitions specially funded by Chongqing Education Commission. The Event was held in various competition areas, and competition in Chongqing was sponsored by Chongqing Education Commission and organized by Chongqing University. The School of Communication Engineering and the Teaching Affairs Office were actual organizers. A total of 440 teams from 32 colleges and universities signed up for competition in Chongqing Competition Area, with both of the two numbers hitting a new high. The number of participating students was more than 1,300. Chongqing University sent 64 teams from 7 schools to participate in the Competition. After fabrication, on-site test and comprehensive assessment of the competing works, the teams with the best results have been chose as the national finalists. Chongqing Competition Area has recommended a total of 38 teams to the National Organizing Committee of the Competition, among which 7 among the best ones are from Chongqing University. The awards and prizes will be announced in the middle of September.

From August 24 to 26, the 12^th “NXP Cup” National Smart Car Competition for College Students sponsored by the Teaching Guiding Committee for Automation Majors in Colleges and Universities under the Ministry of Education and co-sponsored by NXP Semiconductors was brought to a successful closing at Changshu Institute of Technology. The competition this year has been more difficult and intense than that in the last year, and the competition form was also more diversified. The original competition system was adopted, with the racing divided into 6 groups, including photoelectric four-wheel group, photoelectric upright group, electromagnetic energy-conserving team, electromagnetic ordinary group, photoelectric chasing group and electromagnetic chasing group. The racing focused on the speed, stability and confrontation performance of the cars. To keep in line with the current hot topics, the quadrotor navigation group and beacon confrontation group were set up. Nearly 200 teams from more than 150 colleges and universities were chosen finalists for the national final. Teams from nearly 60 colleges and universities signed up for the creative competition. Teams led by teachers from the School of OptoElectronic Engineering, namely, Li Min and Du Jihe, respectively won the national special prize (with the results ranking among the national top 3) of the photoelectric chasing group and the national first prize in the photoelectric 4-wheel group in the racing. In addition, the two teams in the creative group led jointly by Li Min and Song Yanyi, a teacher from the School of Communication Engineering, won the national second prize with their outstanding performance.

The technological innovation competitions for college students serve as important carriers of the cultivation of college students’ innovation capacity, practice capacity and comprehensive quality, as well as the key support for individuality cultivation of students. CQU has been attaching great importance to such competitions and has been always encouraging students to participate. Specifically, CQU has substantially funded and organized more than 30 disciplinary competitions, including the Electronic Design Competition for College Students, Computer Design Competition, and Smart Car Competition, apart from various themed invitational tournaments, such as Invitational Tournament on Information Security Technology and Invitation Tournament on Analog Electronics Technique, and international competitions, such as Mathematical Modeling Competition for American Students and AMC Programming Competition. Some of the exhibition-oriented competitions include Formula SAE, and China Robot Competition for College Students.

The Teaching Affairs Office has been creating an encouraging atmosphere for innovation practice through establishing innovation labs, setting up innovation teams, building innovation courses and holding in-campus qualification trials. Students are getting stimulated as a result. Every year, more than 7,000 persons participate in various disciplinary competitions, with outstanding performance achieved. In 2016 alone, the participants won 623 third prizes and higher prizes of the provincial and ministerial level, including 2 international special prizes, 5 national special prizes, 53 national first prizes, and 82 national second prizes, with 1,084 prize winners. In the 19 competitions already closed in 2017, the CQU participants have won 1 international individual award, 8 national special prizes, 41 national first prizes, 91 national second prizes and 112 national third prizes.

The outstanding performance of CQU students in various technological innovation competitions is largely attributable to the hardworking of teachers and students, and this is also a demonstration of the effect of innovation and entrepreneurship education and teaching reform implemented by CQU. CQU has been promoting innovation and entrepreneurship education in response to the demands of the time, with cultivation of students’ capacity as the core, in an effort to cultivate “innovative talents with high quality that are able to fit in and lead the future”. The College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leading Group with Academician Zhou Xuhong, president of CQU, acting as the group leader, has been set up to promote the innovation and entrepreneurship education of CQU on the whole, with reform being carried forward on different levels. Attempt has been made to strengthen the innovation awareness and capacity cultivation of students through improving and modifying the cultivation scheme and the academic degree standard, enhancing building of innovation and entrepreneurship courses, constructing research-oriented teaching mode, initiating heuristic, discussion-based and participation-based teaching, reinforcing teacher training and introducing excellent teachers, and creating a gradual, cross-cutting innovation and entrepreneurship capacity cultivating platform which caters for all, consolidates the foundation and inspires the individuality.

 “No pain no gain”. CQU students ought to actively participate in and challenge themselves in the innovation competitions, show their talents and experience something unforgettable via the platform built up by CQU for its students.