In the morning of May 5, the 5th Zhejiang University Concrete Dragon Boat Competition was held in the Bell Tower Square of the International Campus of Zhejiang University. The competition attracted 24 teams from ZJUI, College of Mechanical Engineering, College of Energy Engineering and College of Civil Engineering and Architecture to participate. Professor Xiao Yan, Qiushi Distinguished Chair Professor and director of ZJUI's Department of Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Systems Sciences, and Assist Professor Li Binbin, teaching director of the civil engineering program, attended the opening ceremony of the competition.

▲ Assist Prof. Li Binbin delivered a speech

At the opening ceremony, Assist Prof. Li Binbin gave a warm welcome to the participating faculty members and students. He said that in 2019, Prof. Xiao Yan initiated the Concrete Dragon Boat Competition, which has been held for five consecutive years. This year we have welcomed for the first time the undergraduate teams from the main campus of Zhejiang University to come to the site to compete, and we hope that the students from all teams will fight to strive for the first place and make full use of the platform of the Concrete Dragon Boat Competition to communicate with each other and share experiences. He pointed out that the Concrete Dragon Boat Competition promotes the cultivation of students’ research and innovation ability, comprehensive design ability, engineering practice ability and teamwork spirit of college students while carrying forward the excellent traditional culture. It is not only a competitive race, but also an event to show university students' innovation ability and the charm of traditional culture. Finally, he emphasized that only by combining tradition and modern technology can we make a concrete dragon boat with unique traditional characteristics and modern technology, so that we can jointly interpret the creativity and excitement when concrete technology and traditional Chinese culture meet and blend in this encounter of wisdom and technology.

The Concrete Dragon Boat Competition is divided into two major parts, the theoretical part includes appearance design, work display, technical thesis, and material specimen strength test; the practical part includes straight-line round-trip racing and curve obstacle driving race.

▲ Competition site

After a fierce competition, 3 teams won the first prize, 5 teams won the second prize, and 10 teams won the third prize. Among them, "SENNA" from ZJUI 26’ Mechanical Engineering undergraduates Yang Xuhao, Xie Zhian, Fang Shuohan and Chen Zhichao, and 26’ Computer Engineering undergraduate Zhang Tongning, under the guidance of ZJUI Assoc Professor Cui Jiahuan, won the double champion in the Straight-Line Round-Trip Race and Curve Obstacle Driving Race. They will also represent ZJUI to participate in the 6th International Concrete Dragon Boat Competition (ICDBC2024), which will be held on June 1-2 in Tianjin.

▲ Group photo of award-winning teams

▲ Award-winning list

▲ Prof. Xiao Yan commented and summarized the competition

After the competition, Prof. Xiao Yan commented and summarized the competition. He said he was glad to see that the students' enthusiasm for the concrete dragon boat competition has only increased, and the interdisciplinary characteristics of the participating teams have become more and more obvious. He hoped that students would take the initiative to connect with the frontier technology of concrete research at home and abroad, and keep pace with the advancement of construction technology; at the same time, they would continue to enhance their cultural self-confidence, strengthen cross-cultural exchanges, and strive to be the inheritor and spreader of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the explorer and leader of the innovative development of frontier science and technology. He also wished the ZJU team good results in the 6th International University Concrete Dragon Boat Competition.

The Concrete Dragon Boat Competition aims to combine innovative education, interdisciplinary features and traditional Chinese culture.  The goal is to keep pace with current research and construction technology of concrete at home and abroad, to focus on students' abilities in structural materials and structural design, analyzing, calculating and practical operation, artistic design, and application of automatic control, and provide a unique and interesting platform for young university students to strengthen their innovative exchanges.

Participating students’ Remarks

DECHNORACHAI

NARUESORN

International Students from Thailand in Electrical Engineering and Automation, Class of 2020, ZJUI

"As a team of international students, we worked closely together to overcome various challenges, and every step of the process, from design to production, was a learning and growing process. In the process, we not only learned how to use concrete materials to build a strong and durable model ship, but also learned the design and creation of electrical circuits. When we encountered difficulties, faculty members and other team members were very enthusiastic to help us, which gave us more direction and motivation in revising and polishing our work, and finally completed the competition successfully. This experience made me feel the sense of joy and accomplishment of success after hard work and teamwork, and understand that every failure allows us to better accumulate experience."

Yang Xuhao

Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2022, ZJUI

"I feel honored to win the first prize in the Concrete Dragon Boat Competition, and I am also very grateful to Zhejiang University for providing us with this excellent opportunity for multidisciplinary integration and cooperation. I think every dragon boat is the crystallization of the wisdom of the integration and cross-innovation of various majors. Our success could not have been achieved without the indestructible differential code of the students in the electric control group, the precise maneuvering of the manipulators, and the sleeplessness of the students in the mechanical group who worked hard to beat the cement, make the hull, and install the electrical installations. During the competition, we actively communicated with many other excellent teams and gained a lot of inspiration and improvement. For the upcoming Concrete Dragon Boat International Competition, we will keep up our efforts and strive for good results."