On January 13, the final of the 8th China International "Internet+" Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition came to a successful conclusion. Two projects from QMES were shortlisted for the international final of the competition and won one gold medal and one silver medal after breakneck competitions. This is the first time for undergraduate students of QMES to win the first-ever gold medal on behalf of QMUL.

The China International "Internet+" Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is a top-level national event for university students co-sponsored by 12 ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Education and local provincial governments, and has been highly valued by The State Council. The competition, which started in 2015 and has been held annually since then, aims to inherit and carry forward the revolutionary history, focuses on the integration of innovation, entrepreneurship and educational practice with the development of moral grounding, intellectual ability, physical vigour, aesthetic sensibility and work skills, and inspires young students' enthusiasm for originality and creation. The competition highlights education through race, creativity and the principles of new industries, new professions, new forms of business and new standards, and it has received 3.4 million projects and over 14.5 million applicants, covering 111 participating countries and regions and boasting a spectacular scene of "tens of thousands of students from thousands of universities in hundreds of countries".

Committed to the original mission of Sino-foreign cooperative education, QMES has gradually formed the education mode which aims to improve the four abilities of students, namely, political discernment, learning motivation, innovation and creativity, and global competency. By drawing on the ideas of lifelong learning and critical thinking of QMUL, concepts, models and practices concerning value building, ability cultivation and knowledge impartation of China, QMES has built a progressive curriculum system featuring profession-practice-creation, established a new pattern of all-round ideological and political education led by the Party, designed a new mechanism of innovation-oriented curriculum and scientific research, and set up a new comprehensive education framework based on competence.

The curriculum of QMES adopts progressive ability training as the core. In the first year, it emphasizes the nurturing of students' comprehensive ability and independent thinking. In the sophomore year, QMES focuses on cultivating the thinking style of an engineer and teamwork ability, and stimulates students' planning, management and creation abilities through various characteristic experiments in class. In the third year, QMES underscores students' professional competitiveness, incentivises students to make career plans, and improves students' trans-disciplinary ability through activities such as building virtual companies in which students compete for the CEO. In the junior and senior years, relying on the undergraduate supervisor system to collect superior resources inside and outside the school, QMES targets at deepening scientific research and education, encouraging students to carry out innovation and entrepreneurship practice, and enhancing their innovative and creative abilities against the background of the international teaching and the mode of full-staff education.

Since its establishment, QMES has attached great importance to the organization of students' innovation and entrepreneurship projects and accumulation of achievements. By adopting a two-pronged approach of teachers’ and students’ mobilization, the school has realized the full coverage of innovation and entrepreneurship education which has penetrated into the hearts of every teacher and student and created a sound environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. At the same time, QMES supports the development of innovation and entrepreneurship education by establishing relevant systems and funds. QMES has formulated Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Management of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Programs for Students, Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholarship, and Reward Measures for Instructors of QMES Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and Discipline Competition. Self-raised funds are provided to reward and encourage students and teachers, and university-level innovation and entrepreneurship projects are publicized to create a new wave of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition, QMES takes advantage of the Engineering Practice Training Center, the undergraduate supervisor system, and the development platform connecting domestic and foreign science and technology competitions, so as to provide personalized guidance for students.

QMES regards the cultivation of creativity as a crucial starting point to promote the talent training paradigm. Under the international teaching and all-round education mode, QMES gathers advantageous resources both at home and abroad, and forms a high-level, responsible and highly motivated undergraduate supervisor team which administers solid support to the cultivation of outstanding international innovative talents. The Student Affairs Office, Teaching Affairs Office and Students International Development Center work closely with each other to constantly revolutionize working methods, and carry out extensive online and offline publicity at ordinary times and important moments, so as to continuously impel students to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship activities and facilitate the effectiveness of education. Up to now, the number of projects initiated by QMES has increased from 5 in 2018 to 116, ranking first in NPU for two consecutive years. In various innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, QMES has won 90 international competition awards, 70 national competition awards and 128 provincial competition awards, witnessing a total of 621 winners. The training of innovative and entrepreneurial talents has achieved remarkable results, giving full play to the radiating and driving role inside and outside the university, and thus, QMES has become a role model of Sino-foreign cooperative education in Northwest China in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship work.

While clinching victories, QMES will uphold the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, stick to the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the strategy on developing a quality work force, the innovation-driven development strategy, encourage and guide students to participate in national and international competitions and scientific research projects, carry out high-level innovation and entrepreneurship activities, foster students' innovative spirit, and beef up students’ innovation and creativity abilities. QMES will continue to improve the long-term linkage mechanism of training international innovative talents, accelerate the dual-wheel driven development of teaching and research, making full use of the characteristics and advantages of cooperative education, expand various emerging interdisciplinary projects, improve the level of international scientific research cooperation of the school, and gather new momentum for the future development of the school.

Tetx: Ding Jing, Huang Quanzhang

Photo: Xue Yuhe, Song Jingyi, Ding Jing

Editor: Wu Sijia

Translator: Liu Yang

Review: Fan Xiaoli