The 14th "Challenge Cup" China College Students Entrepreneurship Competition recently concluded in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, attracting participation from over 2,700 universities across 60 countries. Jiangsu universities achieved remarkable success, winning 37 gold, 67 silver, and 89 bronze awards, securing the top in total awards.

This year's competition featured multiple categories of green development, rural vitalization, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Liu Xin and his team members experiment. [Photo/China Youth Daily]

A standout project from Nanjing University of Science and Technology was a coral reef monitoring and protection system, which won gold in the ecology category. Team leader Liu Xin explained that existing coral reef monitoring methods often fail to meet early screening needs. Inspired by the similarity between coral disease progression and cancer, the team developed a modular, multidimensional imaging system over three years. The system employs high-definition 3D and high-resolution spectral imaging to detect coral diseases early.

During a trial application in Dongshan Island in the East China Sea, the system identified over 3,000 diseased coral clusters two weeks earlier than conventional methods, increasing the treatment success rate to 85 percent. The team has set up a company and plans to expand their system's application sites from four to 20 within the next eight months.

Du Yiyuan and her teammate carry out a test on the ribbon dragon. [Photo/China Youth Daily]

Another gold-winning project from NUST reimagines traditional Chinese dragon dancing. Team leader Du Yiyuan, who hails from a town with a 600-year history of dragon dance, developed a lightweight and single-player version. The "Ribbon Dragon" is visually unique and easy to handle, using foam for the dragon head and ribbons for the body.

The team has also created 52 instructional videos catering to all age groups and introduced the activity to over 200 primary and secondary schools. By building a university alliance and collaborating with international students, they are spreading dragon dance worldwide.