From June 9 to 11, the final round of the 2026 “Challenge Cup” Sichuan Provincial College Students’ Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, themed “Youth Shouldering Responsibility for Chinese-Style Modernization,” was held at the Qingyi Campus of Southwest University of Science and Technology in Mianyang. The competition covered 131 universities across the province, with over 200,000 students participating and a total of 24,000 projects submitted. After multiple rounds of screening, only 615 projects advanced to the on-site final review, making the competition highly competitive and prestigious.
Following rigorous competition through online expert review, on-site pitch presentations, and defense sessions, the SWMU teams, leveraging their solid medical research foundation and innovations addressing public health needs, won 1 provincial Grand Prize, 2 First Prizes, 1 Second Prize, and 9 Third Prizes. The university achieved a historic breakthrough in the number of high-level awards at this year’s provincial competition, fully demonstrating the comprehensive innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities of its medical students.
During the final exhibition session, Tang Jingtian, Secretary of the Communist Youth League Sichuan Provincial Committee, stopped by the booth of our Grand Prize-winning project and had an in-depth exchange with the team of “Knee-to-Knee: Leader in Internal Fixation Systems for Knee Cartilage Repair Patches.” He learned in detail about the project's core technology, R&D process, and clinical translation prospects, highly recognized its scientific value and industrial potential in the field of orthopedic regenerative medicine, and encouraged project leader Jia Lipengpeng to lead the team in continuing to deepen technological research, accelerate the translation of research outcomes, and serve the public's essential health needs through medical innovation.
The Grand Prize-winning project “Knee-to-Knee: Leader in Internal Fixation Systems for Knee Cartilage Repair Patches” focuses on the clinical pain points of knee cartilage defects and has developed the world's first human-derived moldable acellular cartilage internal fixation patch system. Relying on technologies integrating directed induction of human stem cells, acellular preparation, and orthopedic internal fixation, the project has created a standardized implantable product with biological activity, mechanical compatibility, and intraoperative moldability, suitable for repairing various irregular cartilage defect scenarios, with outstanding clinical value and industrialization potential in orthopedics and regenerative medicine. The project is led by Jia Lipengpeng, with joint development by Cheng Junyi, Ding Zhipu, and other students, and Li Zhonghan, Li Jingchi, and Shi Hui serving as advisors.
The two First Prize projects also closely address real-world challenges in the pharmaceutical and health field, combining innovation with practicality.
The first is “Essence of Herbs Breaking the ‘Ringworm’ Barrier: Explorer of Whole-Chain Anti-Ringworm Therapy with Novel Sodium Houttuyfonate from Traditional Chinese Medicine.” Targeting industry pain points such as the high recurrence rate of dermatophyte infections and easy development of drug resistance, the project uses sodium houttuyfonate, an active ingredient from traditional Chinese medicine, as its core to develop a series of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory topical preparations suitable for diverse scenarios including the general population, sensitive skin, diabetic patients, and pet owners. The products are mild, safe, and highly effective in inhibiting bacteria. The project leader is Wei Jingyao, with team members from multiple disciplines, and Song Zhangyong, Chen Wenbi, and Lei Jie as advisors.
The second is “Microecology in a Capsule: A Breakthrough Path for Chronic Disease Treatment.” Focusing on the need for non-invasive treatment of chronic diseases, the project has innovatively developed enteric-coated fecal microbiota capsules to achieve targeted precision drug delivery to the colon, addressing the pain points of traditional microbiota transplantation such as high invasiveness, difficult storage and transportation, and challenges in standardized mass production, providing chronic disease patients with an efficient, highly compliant new treatment option. The project is led by Sun Binyu, with guidance from Lü Muhan, Liang Sicheng, and Xu Xinxin.
At this year’s competition, the university also won 1 provincial Second Prize and 9 provincial Third Prizes. The competing tracks covered diverse directions including orthopedic regenerative materials, traditional Chinese medicine preparations, intestinal microecology, AI-assisted pathological diagnosis, medical assistive devices, life education, rural children’s health, resource utilization of agricultural and forestry waste, and medical pollutant treatment, fully highlighting the university’s interdisciplinary innovation advantages in medicine, pharmacy, public health, bioengineering, and humanities and social sciences.
The provincial Second Prize project, “Breaking the Taboo of Death, Illuminating the Meaning of Life: ‘DTA — Intelligent Psychological Assessment and Treatment Tool’ Driving Chinese-Style Life Education,” focuses on filling the gap in life education by creating an intelligent psychological intervention tool. The 9 Third Prize projects conducted innovative research in areas such as AI screening and diagnosis of salivary gland tumors, medical liquid-dissolving earplugs, intelligent health age assessment, high-value utilization of feather waste, 3D-printed cranial repair patches, growth services for children in western rural areas, comprehensive utilization of distiller’s grain and pharmaceutical residues, in-situ hemostatic needles, and plasma treatment of hospital pollutants, comprehensively showcasing young students’ original aspiration for scientific innovation rooted in their specialties and serving people’s livelihoods.
Behind these impressive achievements is the university’s sustained efforts in building an innovation and entrepreneurship education system that “promotes learning, innovation, and character development through competition.” The university takes the “Challenge Cup” competition as an important educational vehicle, builds interdisciplinary research and innovation platforms, provides professional mentors for full-process guidance, and continuously advances the "Challenge Cup · Climbing Plan,” offering comprehensive support in resources, venues, and technology for students’ innovation projects, guiding medical students to ground themselves in the building of a Healthy China and transform professional knowledge into innovation outcomes that benefit the people.
Going forward, the university will continue to cultivate a fertile ground for campus innovation and entrepreneurship, continuously improve its science and innovation cultivation mechanisms, tap into innovation potential in the pharmaceutical and health field, and encourage more young students to devote themselves to research and innovation, allowing youthful creativity to take root in people’s livelihoods and contributing the strength of medical innovation to Chinese-style modernization.
