To further improve the quality of undergraduate education and enhance students' research capabilities, Undergraduate School of Zhejiang University has established the Zhejiang University Undergraduate Academic Rising Star Project to support outstanding undergraduates as project leaders in conducting independent and innovative research under the guidance of academic instructors. After student applications, college recommendations, oral defense and reviews, 30 students have been selected as members of the Zhejiang University Undergraduate Academic Rising Star Project (first phase). Among them, Ye Chengze, a 26' civil engineering undergraduate of ZJUI, successfully applied with the project "Evaluation of Structural Health Status of Cultural Relics Building Based on Computer Vision" and will conduct research under the guidance of Assist prof. Li Binbin of ZJUI.
▲ Opening Ceremony of Zhejiang University Undergraduate Academic Rising Star Project
Cultural relics bear the splendid Chinese civilization and maintain the national spirit, constituting our precious heritage. However, due to natural and human factors over the years, cultural relic buildings may experience varying degrees of deterioration, directly impacting their stability. Therefore, the use of Computer Vision-based technology for crack monitoring can not only improve monitoring accuracy but also be more efficient and non-destructive compared to traditional monitoring methods. In this case, it is especially suitable for monitoring cultural relic buildings, but such technology is still rarely researched in the field of cultural relic building preservation. The research content of Ye Chengze's project is mainly based on the computer vision method, through the monitoring of cracks and the numerical simulation of the structure of heritage buildings to analyze their safety, to achieve the assessment of the structural health state of heritage buildings.
▲ Ye Chengze participating in the defense evaluation meeting of the Project
When it comes to project applications, Ye Chengze mentioned "interest." "Interest is the driving force and source of my learning. I have always enjoyed exploring things that interest me." Ye Chengze has been exploring different research fields and directions since his freshman year, extensively reading academic works related to civil engineering. Through various enriching events like concrete dragon boat competitions, he actively applied fundamental knowledge of electrical engineering, power control, and modeling techniques to practice. He keenly felt the charm of interdisciplinary innovation between civil engineering and other disciplines through these cross-disciplinary practices. Moreover, he made full use of the rich research practice platforms and opportunities in ZJUI, participating in the Reconsidering Python Syntax to Enhance Programming Productivity project during the summer vacation, primarily exploring the differences between the Python language and other languages (such as Matlab, R, Julia), providing an overview by comparing learning curves, computational speeds, community support, and syntax to propose a universal interpreter that accepts different language syntax. This project was selected as an Outstanding Summer Research Project at ZJUI in 2023. "These research experiences greatly increased my confidence and have continuously inspired me to explore further on the research path," Ye Chengze shared with us.
With such a research foundation, upon the announcement of the Academic Rising Star Project, Ye Chengze immediately signed up. He said, "When I learned about the establishment of the Academic Rising Star Project, I wanted to strive for the opportunity to engage in research, seek profound knowledge, contribute my wisdom and strength to the cause of cultural heritage protection, and make cultural relics more 'vivid and tangible'." When asked about his thoughts on the award, Ye Chengze couldn't help but share with us, "I am very grateful for the outstanding international environment, interdisciplinary curriculum system, and abundant research practice opportunities at ZJUI, allowing us to engage in research from freshman year, explore various research directions extensively, choose the field of our interest, and lay a solid foundation for future research. At the same time, I am very grateful for the guidance and teachings of Assist Prof. Li Binbin. It is because of his careful guidance that I was able to successfully seize this opportunity."
After being awarded the Zhejiang University Undergraduate Academic Rising Star Project, Ye Chengze was greatly encouraged. He expressed that he would use his passion and the enhancement of research capabilities as motivation, actively broaden his academic horizons, contribute his own academic strength, and persist in delving deep into research on the monitoring of cracks in cultural heritage buildings based on computer vision.
