From November 7 to 10, 2024, the 17th National Structure Design Contest for College Students came to an end. With the work ZhaoYang, our team won the national first prize and ranked first in the province. At the same time, Yango University won the excellent organization award. Up to now, Yango University has won the first prize for four consecutive years in a row.

A total of 1,863 teams from 595 universities in 31 provinces participated in this year’s contest. Among them, 121 elite teams from 121 universities, including Tsinghua University, Tongji University, Southeast University, and Zhejiang University, entered the finals to compete for the national championship.

The title of this national contest is ‘Design and Modeling of Towering Structures Considering Horizontal Vibration.’ In the model of a towering structure, weights of specified mass are fixed on the top of the tower, and the bottom of the structure is fixed on a vibration table before loading. Structural forces under different working conditions are realized by placing weights of different masses and applying different excitation vibrations.

Under the leadership of Prof. Tan Lixin, Dean of the School of Intelligent Construction, Professors Chen Jianfei and Cheng Yi instructed civil engineering students Gan Jiehong (class of 2021), as well as Ruan Qingling and Xiang Xiaoyan (class of 2022), to complete the project titled ZhaoYang, in which the main body of the structural model was constructed as a four-story frame structure supported by four columns, assisted with a number of braces to resist the effects of earthquakes. After 12 hours of on-site production, expert evaluation, exposition, and defense, the team won the national first prize with their work ZhaoYang.

It is reported that the National Structure Design Contest is one of the nine major national discipline contests funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, and was jointly approved for the first time by the document. With the purpose of fostering creation, collaboration, and practice, it is the highest level and most influential student innovation contest in the field of civil engineering and construction engineering and is known as “the brightest pearl in the crown of civil engineering” due to the difficulty, challenge, and high level of the contest content.

In recent years, Yango University has emphasized subject competitions as an important method of talent cultivation and strengthened overall planning in terms of top-level design, planning guarantees, organization, and mobilization. Encouraging students to participate in various competitions helps both teachers and students understand and master the standards, norms, and requirements of contemporary production practices. This approach integrates new methods, technologies, processes, and standards from real-world production into educational teaching and curriculum materials. Ultimately, it aims to develop application-oriented talent that meets societal needs, enhances quality productivity, and supports high-quality development initiatives