On November 10th, the four-day finals of the "Gouli Cup" 2024 17th National Undergraduate Structural Design Competition successfully concluded at Guangzhou University. The team from HXIT’s School of Civil Engineering emerged victorious, earning the prestigious National First Prize.
This year’s competition saw participation from 60,000 students across the nation, making it the largest in scale, the most comprehensive in university involvement, and the most influential in its history. Centered on research into high-rise tower structures, the competition emphasized integrating theoretical knowledge with practical applications while fostering students' problem-solving skills for real-world engineering challenges. To increase complexity, undetermined parameters were introduced into the competition tasks. Teams were required to draw lots to determine key design parameters, conduct on-site analysis and calculations, finalize a design plan, and construct structural models for loading tests-all under a time-sensitive framework that added suspense and difficulty. To ensure through preparation, the School of Civil Engineering formed a competition team comprising students from freshman to junior. Team members dedicated their summer vacation to extensive laboratory work, repeatedly conducting experiments, refining calculations, and optimizing their designs. After hundreds of iterations in design and testing, they finalized a robust and innovative plan.
During the competition, the team, consisting of Dai Chaojun and Sun Shiqi (both from the Civil Engineering Class of 2022) and Deng Mingsheng (Engineering Cost Estimation Class of 2022), demonstrated exceptional performance under the guidance of Professor Jin Banghu. Over four days, the team successfully completed every stage of the competition, including on-site design, model construction, expert evaluations, presentations and defenses, and the critical loading tests. Facing intense competition from elite teams nationwide, the HXIT team remained composed and executed their plan with precision and efficiency, ultimately securing the First Prize.
Jin Banghu highlighted that the School of Civil Engineering places a strong emphasis on fostering students' innovative spirit and practical skills. HXIT integrates innovation-driven education into its talent cultivation system, teaching reforms, professional practice modules, and educational culture, ensuring students are well-equipped for both academic and professional excellence.
