Diligently & Persistently Study | Unite knowledge and action with diligent study

"University learning is starkly different from high school learning," Wu Feiyang reflected when looking back on his four years of university studies. "High school is like a sprint—there’s a clear goal, and even if there are occasional setbacks, you can still make a final push to reach it. University, however, is an enduring marathon: every course, every experiment, and every task may impact the final outcome, and any slackening at any stage could trigger chain reactions."

Upon first enrolling in ZJUI, he struggled to adapt at first—faced with English instruction, a sudden surge in academic pressure, and fast-paced learning, his performance in some courses even fell short of his expectations. However, he knew well that he could not afford to slack off in university studies. Instead of being discouraged, he chose to rise to the challenge, adhering to a learning approach that integrates theory with practice to excel in every course.

During an experiment for the Computer Systems Engineering (ECE 391) course, to debug the small operating system kernel he had built, he often worked from early morning until late at night—even on holidays—repeatedly revising the code and troubleshooting bugs. "The process of learning major core courses may be tough," he said, "but it is precisely through these hands-on practices that my abilities have improved, and I have gradually adapted to the university’s learning rhythm."

Since his early undergraduate studies, Wu Feiyang has actively pursued research practice. As a freshman, he joined Professor Liu Yong’s group at Zhejiang University, participating in system control research and completing a project for a specially configured system based on mainstream operating systems—gaining a preliminary grasp of relevant frameworks and application knowledge. In his sophomore year, he was selected for Zhejiang University’s Student Research Training Program (SRTP). Guided by ZJUI Assistant Professor Wang Gaoang, he focused on multimodal analysis model research. Through close teamwork, he not only developed and open-sourced a video annotation tool but also co-authored the paper MovieChat: From Dense Token to SparseMemory for Long Video Understanding (with ZJUI peers Song Enxin, Chai Wenhao, Wang Guanhong, Zhang Yucheng, and Zhou Haoyang), published in CVPR—a top computer vision conference. He also helped co-build an open-source dataset released on Hugging Face, providing resources for technical developers. This experience greatly enhanced his systematic research skills and clarified his interest in precision actuator control. Currently, Wu Feiyang is part of ZJUI Assistant Professor Chen Hua’s group, focusing on researching the learning and optimization of relevant intelligent strategies.

Diligently Study | Boost Learning via Competitions

Guided by the philosophy of "applying what he learns," Wu Feiyang actively sought out various practical opportunities outside of his studies. By chance, he joined the ZJUI RoboMaster Team. As a member of the electrical control group, he was primarily responsible for developing control algorithms based on the STM32 microcontroller and prepared with the team for the RoboMaster Robotics Competition. This event is not only a competitive arena for professional skills, but also a communication platform for tech enthusiasts around the world.

His participation in the team’s learning and training accelerated his professional growth: progressing from basic algorithm debugging to overall system optimization, he gradually advanced from a beginner to a proficient practitioner, and his passion for technical practice grew stronger. In his sophomore year, he took on the role of team captain—he not only provided training for new members, but also led the team to make a mark in the 2023 RoboMaster University Alliance Tournament.

For Wu Feiyang, the RoboMaster University Alliance Tournament was the first major professional competition he participated in after enrolling at ZJUI. Not only was this the starting point of his competition career, but it also became a key tournament that ran through his entire undergraduate life. In the autumn of 2024, driven by his great passion for RoboMaster, he took on the role of captain once again. This year, he led the team to Jinhua to participate in the RoboMaster Alliance Tournament (Zhejiang Division) hosted by Zhejiang Normal University, drawing a perfect conclusion to his four-year journey in RoboMaster competitions.

Looking back on his experience in the RoboMaster University Alliance Tournament, Wu Feiyang reflected with deep sentiment: “RoboMaster has brought me more than just improvement in professional skills—it has also been a great tempering of my teamwork abilities. Every team member devotes time and effort, all to savor every minute of competition on the field. Through the tacit cooperation with my teammates and the process of overcoming technical challenges, I have deeply felt the power of teamwork.”

Broad Aspirations, Diverse Interests|Good Deeds Reach Distant Horizons

To further enhance his overall competence, he also actively engaged in interdisciplinary competitions, constantly pushing his limits through diverse competitive platforms. During his sophomore year, Wu Feiyang participated in the 8th China International College Students’ "Internet +" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. As the only member in Computer Engineering in the team behind the "Shengxi" Flow Cytometer Preparation Instrument, he fully leveraged his professional strengths, focusing primarily on drafting patent documents and product modeling.

In the course of advancing the project, Wu Feiyang not only visited ZJE multiple times for field research to systematically learn the working principles of flow cytometers, but also visited several biotechnology companies with his team members to gain in-depth insights into industry needs. In the end, Wu Feiyang’s team, with its outstanding performance, successfully won the national gold award at the China International College Students’ "Internet +" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

This interdisciplinary project experience not only enabled Wu Feiyang to systematically master the technical principles and operational processes of flow cytometers, and deeply understand the innovative efficiency brought by interdisciplinary integration, but also allowed him to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements through teamwork in a startup-like setting. It also broadened his horizons for future research and study.

Additionally, Wu Feiyang actively participated in Model United Nations (MUN) activities. While expanding his international perspective, he also improved his critical thinking and public speaking skills. "After joining the MUN club at the International Campus, I found it to be one of the most academically competitive clubs on campus," he recalled. "When participating in MUN conferences, everyone must act like a real diplomat—you need to thoroughly understand the core of the issue and engage in professional debates from a specific stance."

▲Model United Nations activities

Looking back on his learning and practical experiences, Wu Feiyang believes that while goal orientation is important when participating in competitions or projects, "if you are overly fixated on utilitarian goals, the whole process will instead become painful, and ultimately you will struggle to achieve the desired results." He emphasized in particular that when you can fully immerse yourself in the process, "success will often come naturally."

At the same time, Wu Feiyang is also passionate about public welfare. He makes full use of his spare time to engage in local community volunteer services—he not only mobilized his classmates to join the volunteer team, but also spent weekends carrying out street cleaning and environmental protection initiatives with local volunteers.

▲Wu participated in community service initiatives