From May 22 to 24, the 8th Hubei Provincial universities and colleges Students' Metallographic Skills Competition was held at Hubei Minzu University, with 210 competitors from 35 universities and colleges in Hubei taking part. Students from the School of Intelligent Manufacturing of HXIT earned two individual second prizes, four individual third prizes and one team third prize. The school made full preparations beforehand by arranging a laboratory for training, and a teaching team led by the vice dean offered regular professional guidance to polish students' skills. The School of Intelligent Manufacturing has now started preparations for the national contest. Systematic intensive training and simulated exercises will be arranged to help contestants get fully ready for the national finals at Wuhan University of Technology from July 25 to 30, in an effort to achieve better results and win glory for HXIT. As a key discipline competition for materials majors in Hubei Province, it is designed to foster students' ability in material analysis and practical operation, mainly evaluating their proficiency in grinding, polishing, etching metallographic specimens and conducting microscopic observation within the given time.