Recently, the National 3D Digital Innovation Design Grand Finals (15th Anniversary Elite League) concluded at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. Students from NEFU’s School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering achieved remarkable success, securing a first prize and a third prize in the “Digital Industrial Design” category, as well as a first prize in the “Metaverse Creation” category.

Launched in September 2022, this competition garnered participation from nearly 500 universities and 900 departments across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China. The participants included students from graduate, undergraduate, and vocational institutions. There were nearly 8,000 teams from various regions and universities that registered for the competition, submitting nearly 12,000 preliminary works. After a series of selections, including the preliminary (school-level) and semifinal (province-level) rounds, almost 500 teams advanced to the national finals. Three outstanding projects, guided by Professors Zhu Hai, Zhao Hui, Jiang Xinbo, and Meng Qingjun from NEFU, earned their place in the national finals. Several other projects received well-deserved recognition and awards at the provincial level.

The National 3D Digital Innovation Design Competition was jointly organized by various departments, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, and the China Association for Science and Technology, with the support of organizations such as the National Manufacturing Informatization Training Center, the National 3D Digital Technology Promotion Service and Education Training Alliance (3D Power), and the Guanghua Design Development Foundation. This competition has become a widely recognized national event in the field of “Digital + Innovation and Creation”. Its core philosophy revolves around “promoting teaching, learning, application, and innovation through competition”. Its overarching goals include driving the digital transformation of industries and fostering the growth of emerging fields, such as the metaverse. Additionally, it has been included in the national higher education discipline assessment system by the Ministry of Education for several consecutive years.