On November 24, the final of the 2022 Hubei Science Popularization Contest, sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province and hosted by SCMZU, was held at the Guanggu Concert Hall, with Wu Jun, Deputy Head of Hubei Provincial Science and Technology Department, and Li Jinlin, President of SCMZU as special guests. Experts from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Health Commission of Hubei Province, Hubei Media Group, Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau, Huazhong Agricultural University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and SCMZU were invited to serve as judges, and an ad hoc supervision team was set to supervise the whole event.

With the theme of "Into the Science", the contest aimed to promote Hubei's scientific and technological innovation achievements, and create a friendly environment for science popularization. Thirty players participated in the final with contents covering national major projects, major scientific infrastructure, optical and electronic information, biosafety, intelligent manufacturing, etc.

The final of 2022 Hubei Science Popularization Contest. Photo provided by the Academy of Science and Technology Development

Li Jinlin highlighted in his speech that SCMZU had always given full play to its strengths of  R&D and talents to innovate the form of science popularization into multiple channels and forms. He said that it was an honour for SCMZU to host the most influential science popularization competition in Hubei, and SCMZU will continue to serve the national strategy and the needs of Hubei’s economic and social development, and contribute to build Hubei into a strong province of science and technology.

Wu Jun pointed out in his speech that he was pleased to see the contest has built a platform for the scientific and technological workers, science popularization workers and tech-savvy amateurs to learn, exchange and display their skills, since the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China especially emphasizes the construction of national science and technology innovation ability and science popularization ability.

Confident and enthusiastic, the contestants demonstrated their excellent professional ability and strong sense of social responsibility in their stunning speeches, engaging both people’s minds and sights. "Along with Lithium" as his theme, Mei Peng from the School of Chemical Materials introduced the concept of green and low-carbon life by explaining the working principle and characteristics of lithium-ion battery and analyzing its importance in the carbon neutrality process. Then, with his brilliant performance in the Q&A session which showed his rich knowledge reserve and quick response ability, Mei Peng won the unanimous approval of the judges and harvested the first prize. Also, SCMZU won an Excellent Organization Award.

Mei Peng in the final. Photo provided by the School of Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation

More than 1,000 contestants participated in the preliminaries of the contest, among which 87 entered the semi-finals and 30 advanced to the finals, covering a wide range of industries. The total number of viewers of the final live broadcast reached 550,000.

SCMZU has always attached great importance to the science popularization contests. The School of Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been specifically responsible for the selection and training of contestants. Over the past 4 years, SCMZU has won 6 national awards (including 2 first prizes), more than 30 provincial awards, ranking the top among universities in the science popularization.

Edited by Liu Qiong  Reviewed by Pan Wenjun