Winning students from XJTU pose for a group photo at the contest.

The finals of the 18th National Structure Design Contest for College Students took place in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 19.

After four days of fierce competition, students from the School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) won the first prize. Achieving a historic breakthrough, their overall score placed them ninth nationwide, securing a spot in the top 10. XJTU also received the Excellent Organization Award.

The competition, China's premier undergraduate challenge in civil and architectural engineering, brought together the top 120 teams from 119 universities, whittled down from an initial field of 1792 teams from 591 institutions across 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.

On site, they had only 15 hours to build a functional bamboo model of a canopy boat and complete a three-level loading test according to the requirements. The model was then evaluated based on weight, load capacity, stability, and sailing speed.

The XJTU "Fengding Zhenghuang" team, consisting of Wu Wendong, Zhu Zhenpeng, and Wang Fuqiang – all majoring in human settlement science and technology – achieved a load-bearing capacity of 19 kilograms with a structure weighing just 104.31 grams. Guided by civil engineering professors Song Li and Han Bo, the team withstood the pressure and successfully completed all three loading stages, meeting expectations.