On May 23, the 36th Odyssey of the Mind World Finals were held in Michigan State University in the United States. More than 850 participating teams from around the world demonstrated their outstanding works in the competition with their innovative spirit, teamwork spirit and mental and physical dexterity. Our university won the second place of the first prize as to the competition problem of Release of the Glass Ball’s Structure.
Odyssey of the Mind (OM) competition is an international Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition. Originated in 1978 in the United States, the competition is mainly used to test students’ innovative spirit and teamwork spirit. The competition participated into by college students is divided into structural problems, mechanical problems, performance problems and classical problems. The OM competition was first organized in 1987 in China, and now is extended to more than ten more provinces/municipalities. Since its foundation, the OM competition has been loved by youths of all countries and greatly advocated by educators and statesmen. In the previous competitions, several Presidents of United States, including President Ronald • Reagan, George • Bush, Bill Clinton wrote letters or sent videos to express their support for the Odyssey of the Mind competition.
It is the second time that our university has sent a team to participate in the OM World Finals. Led by Teacher Huang Lixin from the Engineering Training Center, seven students took 16 hours’ long-distance journey to the USA. These students are: Wang Xiaochi, , Zhang Yuzhe from School of Automotive Engineering; Zhu Ruiyi from School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Jiang Yuejia from School of Mechanical Engineering; Xiong Bao and Yang Fan from School of Art Design. After settlement in the college student dormitory in Michigan State University, the students set about assembling the props and preparing for the competition. The long-distance transport caused damage to a certain part of the equipments, so the team took quick wits to use materials at hand and made emergency repairs. During the competition, the team members traveled between the competition venues and the dormitories with numerous large props every day; they raced against time to make nuanced improvements in all aspects in pursuit of creativity and perfection. In the Finals of Release of the Glass Ball’s Structure, the students made joint efforts to use the 18-gram light wood structure to prop up a 1130-pound weight, which means that something can bear another thing nearly 3 million times of its own weight. It created the best record for the structure problems of our university.
With the concern and support from the university leaders, the Youth League Committee and the Engineering Training Center provided huge collaboration to, and the Office of Teaching Affairs, Office of Students’ Affairs, School of Automobile Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Art Design provided great support to the participating team. The propaganda department and the President’s Office maintained concern about the team during the preparation for the competition, and even showed their the concern and gave their help. Students also cherished this competition opportunity and made elaborate preparation for eight months; in the two months, the team worked hard around the clock for the sprint and finally stood on the world stage. Through this world-class competition, the students expanded their global vision, had a better understanding of the purpose and meaning of the OM competition and realized the importance of communication, learning and sharing. The achievement did not come easily, so the success is attributable to a wide transmission of the concept of innovative talent training and innovative spirit cultivation within Shanghai University of Engineering Science. With great efforts of generations of OM participants, SUES students are bound to break their own limits and bring more and higher honors to the Chinese team.