On December 17, 2021, the final of the Wuhan University 5th 3D Printing Design Competition was held at the Lecture Hall of the Main Library at Wuhan University. After the strict and professional assessment in the preliminary contest, 18 teams from various colleges proceeded to the final.

 The hosts reading the opening remarks

Following a brief introduction to the 3D Printing Design Competition, the hosts announced the beginning of the final. First, all participants would give a short 5-minute presentation including the creative concepts and core components of their works. Then the 18 teams would be divided into six groups, and each time three students replied to the judges’ questions on behalf of their own teams. The judges scored the teams based on not only their work but also the live performance of the students. The team with the highest average scores would be the champion and receive an expensive unmanned photography machine and other exquisite prizes.

A participant from the School of Power and Mechanical Engineering giving a presentation

In the first round, a team from the School of Power and Mechanical Engineering presented first. Their work Catcher in the Rye was inspired by J.D. Salinger’s novel. They created the dexterous mechanical frog to arouse people’s concern towards fields, and encourage more and more people to protect the environment and assist the rural construction with concrete actions. In addition, the complicated structure inside the frog was also very impressive, from the skeleton and muscle distribution of the frog to the action of jumping, this team’s innovative thinking and solid theoretical foundation were vividly reflected.

 A participant from the School of History giving a presentation

What’s more, although most of the teams were from the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering, there was a special team from the School of History that caught everyone’s attention during the presentation period. Their work, a restored model of an ancient building named Wisdom from 2400 years ago, was also very creative and meaningful. According to the illustration of this team, the audience had a more thorough understanding of how new technology could greatly promote the development of archaeology today.

Other interesting works were exhibited in the competition as well, such as a robot dog that could run, jump, wave hands, and even do push-ups! What’s more, a creative pen holder which used mortise and tenon structures also showed participants’ unique ideas, especially after practical application. Apparently, putting innovative ideas into reality was exactly the motive forthis competition.

Participants replying to judges’ questions

In the second round, different teams’ performances varied a lot because of individuals’ unique personalities. Some students who were confident expressed themselves well and conveyed their thoughts logically, received high praise from teachers. Especially, when a contestant designing a Photographic Electric Slide Car answered judges’ queries, his confidence and brilliant interpretation were the best among all according to the judges.

After two rounds of fierce contests, the hosts announced the results. Unsurprisingly, the team designing Catcher in the Rye won the championship, and the designers of the Photographic Electric Slide Car got second place. What most inspired the audience was that the team designing Wisdom from 2400 years ago was in fourth place.

 A group photo of the judge and the champion team

All the participants of the competition learned a lot during the process. It was evident that a successful work needs adept teamwork as well as terrific personal ability, and everyone could get some different experiences and learned a lot from each other. Just as Zou Qiushi, a member from the team designing Wisdom from 2400 years ago, said, “the biggest problem we face is that the object we restored is a huge cultural relic 10 meters long and 4 meters wide, it’s so challenging to find an appropriate balance between showing the details and reducing its size. But ultimately, we did find the most suitable size after repeated tries. That’s really satisfying!”

The 5th 3D Printing Design Competition has come to an end, but the innovative exploration of WHUers will never stop.

Photo by Li Sirui

Edited by Li Hefeng, Qin Zehao, Yin Xiaoxue, Zou Xiaohan, Sylvia and Hu Sijia