Recently, FANG Minghao, XU Zihan, ZHANG Yuchen, WANG Zhonghao, CAO Yixin, and YIN Han, the 2022 undergraduate students of ZJUI, won the third prize in the 2nd Annual “Reimagine Our Future” Undergraduate Sustainability Competition with their ingenious views and brilliant presentation.
This 8-week international event hosted by the University of Illinois (UIUC) requires individuals or teams to develop an innovative and feasible plan or solution to promote one or more of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The competition attracted 180 students from across campus, as well as 25 students from the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and 38 students from Zhejiang University (China). The selected topics of the entries are extensive and cross disciplinary, covering a wide range of topics, including engineering, chemistry, marine and land ecosystems, health sciences, food sciences, education, economics, earth sciences, and art and design. After strict evaluation by expert judges, the first, second and third prizes and interdisciplinary awards were selected.
Focusing on the SDGs of “Good Health and Well-being,” “Clean Water and Sanitation,” “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure” and “Affordable and Clean Energy,” the ZJUI award-winning team creatively proposed “A Solution to Water Shortage Issues in Shanghai, China Due to Water Quality.” According to the plan, the Yangtze River Delta area has a population of more than 55 million and a GDP output of more than US $2 trillion. The regional river network is seriously polluted by excessive waste discharge, resulting in eutrophication and cyanobacteria bloom in the watercourses. As the largest water source in Shanghai, Dianshan Lake is deeply affected by cyanobacteria bloom. The resulting shortage of clean water has posed a direct threat to regional economic development and human health. Therefore, the ZJUI team proposed to improve the water quality of Dianshan Lake by taking advantage of the Environment-Enhancing energy (E2-Energy), the green corridor-reed bed, Yangtze-Taihu water diversion, and rubber dam to complete the separation of sewage and high-quality water, to provide sufficient high-quality water for the lives and transportation of Shanghai citizens.
▲ The poster of the awarded plan
“The process of selecting the topic was very difficult. First, we determined that the SDG we are going to focus on was ‘Clean Water and Sanitation,’ and then we fell into a stagnation period of nearly two weeks. We need to find a specific, practical problem to study. At the beginning, we considered the problems of water pollution in Zimbabwe, sanitation facilities in European refugee camps, etc., but they are infeasible due to the lack of information or the lack of impact. Finally, we suddenly discovered that Shanghai, which is so close to us, was a great choice. There was a large population and typical water resource problems, and it was finally approved by all members.
After being awarded in an international competition within the first several months in their college experience, FANG Minghao’s team shared the following: “the original intention of taking part in this competition is that we think the content of this competition is very profound, and we can have the opportunity to participate in global issues, expand our international vision, and at the same time improve our personal vision and pattern, team cooperation ability and the global responsibility of ’taking the world as our own responsibility’.” In addition to being surprised, they are very grateful for the award. They thank all team members for their assiduous exploration day and night, and Prof. ZHANG Yuanhui, the founder professor of UIUC. FANG Minghao’s team said that the award was inseparable from Prof. ZHANG. “Although we were completely unfamiliar before, Prof. ZHANG responded quickly and enthusiastically to our email, especially when he called us ’young engineers’ in the video chatting, I really understood his ardent expectations for a new generation of responsible Chinese youth. Maybe our topic is highly consistent with his research direction, or maybe we are both descendants of the Chinese people. After the competition, we keep communicating, which is also a great harvest of the competition. Prof. ZHANG asked students to think about and solve engineering problems from the source, rather than watch in silence for the changes; relate the topic to its environment, which can better reflect its representativeness and influence while adjusting measures to local conditions; learn to transfer knowledge and seek experience from different project practices. Looking back, FANG Minghao found that the guidance put forward by Prof. ZHANG not only made the finishing point of the competition, but also enlightened them, the future engineers.”
Yuanhui Zhang, Founder Professor of UIUC
Prof. ZHANG also gave the team very positive comments. He said, “their team has pulled out an excellent presentation with novel and open ideas. I am so happy to see they are thinking big at young age, like elevating hope for the future.” When asked how ZJUI students can play a greater role in global sustainable development, Prof. ZHANG also raised some expectations, “First, keep working hard and keep thinking big. International collaboration can elevate one’s vision by magnitude, and ZJUI students are on the right track in that direction; second, keep your mind open, and keep your eyes open to the world. The world future lies on the sustainability, and the sustainable world relies on the young generation like you.”
The world responsibility of ZJUI students is not only reflected in their global competence, but also in the concern and action of faculty and students for sustainable development. “Sustainable development is not only a career, but also a concept, or a sense. I think ZJUI students, as the connection point between Zhejiang University and the world, have a broad international perspective and a down-to-earth spirit of seeking truth, which can be said to have unique conditions for contributing to sustainable development. “FANG Minghao said. “I think ZJUI students should actively participate in world issues and competitions and apply their skills to the wider and more meaningful real world.”
As freshmen, the brilliant results in an international competition cannot be separated from ZJUI’s international presence and unique educational philosophies, along with the students’ efforts and faculty’s careful guidance. For ZJUI faculty and students, the sustainable development competition is not only the improvement of their thinking, vision, knowledge, and skills, but also a solid step towards the goal of cultivating international engineering intellectuals with interdisciplinary innovation.
