Everyone can be an Inventor—The fifth “Innovation, Originality and Entrepreneurship” exhibition successfully held

On May 5^th, the fifth “Innovation, Originality and Entrepreneurship” Educational Achievements Exhibition was inaugurated in the WHU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practice Center. More than six hundred innovative products were displayed. Held by the Department of Undergraduate Education, this exhibition attracted 34 schools of Wuhan University to take part in.

Experts were estimating the products.

Internet Plus

On walking into the exhibition hall, everyone’s attention was immediately caught by the products which had won gold prizes in the 1^st National College Student “Internet Plus” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The competition attracted more than 200,000 students from 1,878 colleges and universities. Apart from the collective prize, Wuhan University were also awarded two gold prizes in the Practice Group and a gold prize in the Creative Ideas Group.

The winning team was entirely made up of undergraduates. Their product “Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Network” was designed to help manage the charging of vehicles. By adding chips to charging piles, and collecting information from the piles, the product could tell people when and where to charge and how long it will take according to the road conditions and the vehicle itself.

Apps Make Life More Convenient

Some interesting apps that help people live more conveniently appeared on exhibition. They were designed to solve problems in people’s daily lives.

Tourists who visit the WHU campus are always faced with two problems: first, they get lost, and second, there are no means for them to learn the history and stories about the scenic spots. Students from School of Geodesy and Geomatics found the solution by developing an app called “Luoyingshuo”. This app could show tourists the location that they wish to explore---scenic spots, restaurants, metro and bus stations etc. Furthermore, it could also tell historical and cultural stories about the scenic spots.

Another app called “Music Sleep” was also appealing. By automatically turning the volume up or down according to the degree of sleep, it can protect people’s hearing. For those who suffer from insomnia, they could even chat with other people who share the similar experience through this app.

The developer of “Luoyingshuo” was introducing his product.

Inventions Displaying Science and Technology

Is the industrial field full of risks and thus is unfit for manual inspection? The industrial inspection vehicle could be of some help. Remotely controlled by computer, this vehicle transmits real-time surveillance video back to the computer. Consequently, it could be used in the inspection of the high-risk industry field.

The new-type shielding window, the wave energy conversion system, the air-to-water machine, the oxygen indicator… a variety of inventions appeared on the exhibits. In fact, many of these products had already won big prizes in major events at home and abroad and some of them had already obtained patents.

Of course, to achieve such excellence is never easy. “At the beginning, we lacked both design experience and the basic knowledge,” said a member of the robot team, “So we had a lot to learn. Actually we have spent all our spare time on our design- gathering materials, discussing, debating, experimenting, and consulting. After staying up late for months, we loved what we do even more.”

The Industrial Inspection Vehicles

Beauty of the Everyday Items

Hand shadow and shadow puppetry are familiar to Chinese people, but very few of us could imagine that with the same principle, screws and iron wires would be able to create a “Charles Chaplin”. The shadow of Charlie Chaplin was showed in a piece of ordinary white paper behind some well-arranged screws and iron wires.

The Shadow of Charlie Chaplin

Matchsticks, medicinal herbs, leaves and preserved fruits, for those who are insightful enough, all of these daily items are beautiful enough to become artistic works. “Since these daily materials have their own colors and textures, they surely have their own beauty. After finding their uniqueness and rearranging them in a different way, our students have made these things very interesting”, a teacher from School of Urban Design introduced.

Re-design of Materials

“Innovation, Originality and Entrepreneurship” has been the educational concept put forward by Wuhan University since 2001. The aim of this concept is to encourage students to become independent scholars, guiding them to do research as well as promoting innovation and entrepreneurship training in university. To achieve this goal, WHU has provided various policy supports and great financial incentives. The clusters of achievements exhibited every two years have proved its effectiveness and benefit.

(Author：Guo Zhen,Photo by Li Zihe, edited by ZhuYuxuan, Zou Tianqi, Wu Siying, Mark &Hu Sijia, quoted from http://en.whu.edu.cn/ )