Contributed by: Youth League Committee | Edited by: Liu Ye | Photo by: Fu Wenjun | Preliminary Review: Cheng Xia | Final Review: Liang Lili | Date: April 13, 2024
On April 13, the final review and conclusion of the 2024 "Challenge Cup" National College Student Business Plan Competition was successfully held at the Longzihu Lake Campus of the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (the "University"), with over a thousand student and teacher participants from 117 teams. A total of more than 400 people attended the Opening Ceremony, including the Deputy Secretary of the University's Party Committee, Jiao Aiping and relevant heads from the Party Affairs Department for Students, the Party Affairs Department for Postgraduates, the Science and Technology Office, the Social Sciences Office, the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the University's Youth League Committee, along with deputy secretaries of the Party Committees of each school and college, leaders of branched Youth League Committee and representatives of participating teachers and students.
At the opening ceremony, on behalf of the university, Jiao Aiping warmly welcomed and sincerely congratulated all the attending leaders, experts, participating teachers, and students. She noted that through years of efforts in the "Challenge Cup," the participating teachers and students have depicted several vivid and inspiring stories from "participation" to "dream pursuit", from "learning" to "starting business", and from "experience" to "mentoring", which has imposed a profound impact on successive generations of youth at our University in building an aspiration of "building innovative dreams and dedicating to serving the country". She also pointed out that 2024 marked a critical year for the University to fully promote the establishment of a "Double First-Class" institution and a pivotal year for completing the new round of the review and assessment of undergraduate education and teaching in a high-quality basis, and that the University needs to further stimulate its innovation and entrepreneurship vitality and make efforts to transform this 'crucial variable' into the 'maximum incremental driver' for promoting the creation of a "Double First-Class" university and accelerating the cultivation, transformation and development of academically-oriented talents, so as to guide and motivate more students to contribute their youthful energies towards scientific innovation for national revitalization. On behalf of the University, she conveyed three aspirations to all participating teachers and students: firstly, she urged all students to set ambitious goals and foster a strong commitment to scientific innovation for national revitalization; secondly, she hoped them to remain down-to-earth and diligently cultivate their skills and abilities in entrepreneurship and innovation; lastly, she inspired them to persevere through challenges and hardships and manifest a sense of responsibility and proactive engagement in their pursuits.
The head of the Youth League Committee presented an overview of the preparatory work for the final review and conclusion of the 2024 "Challenge Cup" competition to all faculty and students. Subsequently, representatives from the participating students and instructing teachers delivered speeches respectively. During the ceremony, the attending leaders jointly stepped onto the stage to initiate the competition and collectively witnessed this exciting moment. After that, the final competition officially commenced.
At the roadshow site, Jiao Aiping and the delegation attentively listened to the project presentations by the participating teams. They gave full recognition to the spirit of perseverance in innovation and creativity displayed by the students and teachers who skillfully combined societal and industrial demands with their professional expertise. During the on-site defense period, each team presented their defense according to the event schedule and showed their project concepts and team mien through various formats, including PPT presentations, video playback and physical demonstrations and from multiple aspects such as the topic background, industry market survey, product and service, as well as business model innovation. The judges evaluated each team based on objective criteria such as social value, practical process, innovative significance, future prospects, and team cooperation. They offered meticulous guidance and provided concrete and feasible improvement suggestions according to the presentation of each team.
It is reported that since the "Challenge Cup" competition started in July 2023, the Youth League Committee has approached the competition with systematic thinking and creatively implemented a "dual tournament" mechanism featuring two competitions per year, under the guidance and concern of the University's Party Committee, in order to better explore new pathways for high-quality development and foster a favorable ecosystem for nurturing outstanding innovative talents. During the school and college competition, a total of 2,172 teachers and students signed up for up to 293 projects, reflecting that the influence and brand communication of the "Challenge Cup" competition continued to improve. Down the road, based on the "Challenge Cup" serial competitions and around the cultivation of students' innovative capabilities, the Youth League Committee will focus on enhancing the University's quality in teaching and education and the talent development capacity, and contributing to the University's leapfrog transformation and development, so as to guide and motivate more students to contribute their youthful energies toward scientific innovation for national revitalization. (Photo by: Fu Wenjun)