The final of the 2020 “Jinxi Cup” National Steel Structure Innovation Competition for College Students by theChina Steel Structure Association was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on Nov.12. Zhang Xiuhua and Zhang Libin, two teachers fromthe Civil Engineering College,guided the students to design the works“Star Yuet Meisu”, which won the third prize.

Sponsored bytheChina Steel Structure Association, the National Steel Structure Innovation Competition for College Students has been held annually since 2015. It is a high-level national discipline competition in the field of steel structure. The aim of the competition is to stimulate innovation in civil engineering and architecture majors from Chinese colleges and universities, cultivate the students’ cooperative spirit, strengthen the training oftheir engineering practice quality, promote the combination of industry, study and research, and create conditions for the outstanding innovative talents of steel structure to stand out. This year, the students ofthe Civil Engineering College of our university participated in thecompetition for the first time.

The design title of this year’s competition is “SteelStructure HomeStay”. The work requires the construction scheme design, structural scheme design, node design and envelopment system construction, material description, scheme innovation, feasibility and economic analysis of “SteelStructureHomeStay”. TheCivilEngineeringCollege graduates Chi Mingxin,LiXiang,Zhang Weijia and Lu Xilin,and theundergraduates Ma Weinan, Yang Luqi, Yin Zexiang andShen Ao,formed a teamof eight to take part in the competition. Starting from July, andafter more than two months of planning and design,under thecarefulguidance of their teachers Zhang Xiuhua and Zhang Libin,the team submitted entries on September 13 as scheduled. After the anonymous vote oftheexperts fromtheChina Steel Structure Association, our students’ work “Star Yuet Meiju” stood out from all the national entries and entered the final. Our students were selected into the final defense of 25universities, competing with students from Harbin Institute of Technology, Tianjin University, South China University of Technology, Chongqing University, Beijing University of Technology, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology and others.

Through exchanging ideas with other university teams,the participating students have gained a lot. The competition further cultivated the cooperative spirit of the teachers and students, broadened the students’horizons and thinking, and improved the students’ innovative and practical ability.