Students from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at TJU won a second prize in the International Entrepreneurship Contest for University Students 2018AW in Hyogo, Japan.

The contest was held from November 23 to 27. Among the 26 teams from China, Japan and South Korea given the opportunity to compete in the finals were two TJU teams. The team led by Wang Yalin, a doctoral student from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering was not only ranked first among all the teams that won a second prize but also won the "Hyogo Prefectural University Alliance Chairman’s Award" Special Prize.

The four members of Wang’s team were postgraduates from Professor Chen Guanyi's biomass energy research project. Wang is also the founder and the legal representative of Tianjin Taijie Environmental Protection Technology Co. Ltd. The business scope of this company centers on the research and development of the simulation of biomass and coal-fired boilers and biomass gasification coupled coal-fired combustion boilers, which is related to Wang’s doctoral research project. Fu Zhufu, one of the team members, is the Deputy General Manager of Tianjin Yineng Technology Co. Ltd. The company mainly deals with biomass gasification incinerator simulation software.

Combining the core technologies of the two companies and that of Professor Chen's research project, the team’s business plan focused on the design, production and simulation of biomass and waste incinerators, gasifier and gasification coupled coal-fired boilers. The oral defense mapped the business plan from the perspective of social problem solutions, market analysis, industry status quo, specific operation and business management.

There were two rounds in the contest. At the preliminary round, candidates were selected according to their registered materials. The final round was held in Japan, to which those selected were invited. In the final round, each team had 10 minutes to give a presentation and 5 minutes for Q&A.

During the fierce competition, the TJU students demonstrated the innovative spirit of their generation through their solid professional knowledge and outstanding innovative ability. Their outstanding performance deeply impressed the Chinese and foreign judges and professors and showcased the competitiveness of TJU students to both domestic and overseas universities.

At the 5th Sino-Japanese Education Exchange banquet on November 26, Li Tianran, Consul General of China in Osaka, presented the prizes to the winners.