Recently, the 9th (2026) National College Student Embedded Chip and System Design Competition came to a successful conclusion. Hosted by the Chinese Institute of Electronics, the competition is one of the largest, most prestigious, and most influential national Class-A academic competitions in the field of embedded chip and system design in China. Students from the School of Electronic Science and Engineering (School of Microelectronics), Faculty of Engineering, South China Normal University, performed excellently in the Chip Application Track (Graduate Group) and achieved outstanding results, fully demonstrating their solid professional foundations and exceptional innovative capabilities.

In the Southern Regional Competition (Graduate Group), all five teams won awards, among which the “Firefly” Team advanced to the National Finals and won a Second Prize.

In the Graduate Group of the Southern Regional Competition, students from the Faculty and the School stood out among the participating teams with solid professional knowledge, rigorous and clear design ideas, and calm and composed on-site performance. Their entries focused on multiple cutting-edge application fields. The overall proposals were well-reasoned and rigorous, and the technical routes were standardized and clear, receiving high recognition from the regional judges. All five teams won awards in the Southern Regional Competition held in Xiamen, including one First Prize and four Second Prizes, fully demonstrating the students’ comprehensive qualities and innovative practical abilities in embedded system design, hardware-software collaborative development, and engineering practice.

After the selection and experience of the Southern Regional Competition, the “Firefly” Team, guided by teachers Chen Xinman and Guo Zhiyou, regrouped and continued to strive toward the higher stage of the National Finals in Nanjing. During preparation, the team sought perfection in every aspect, from repeatedly refining the proposal and joint debugging of hardware and software to on-site presentation and defense rehearsal. Facing strong opponents from universities across the country and rigorous questioning from judges in the finals, team members responded calmly and cooperated seamlessly. With solid technical accumulation and excellent on-site performance, they ultimately won the National Second Prize. This hard-earned honor is not only the best reward for the team’s months of hard work, but also fully demonstrates the students’ pursuit of excellence and innovative character of daring to break through.

Competition promotes learning and cultivates “chip” talent; competition empowers innovation and creates “chip” achievements.

The National College Student Embedded Chip and System Design Competition focuses on the field of embedded chips and systems. It emphasizes examining students’ comprehensive qualities in solution design, system implementation, engineering debugging, and innovative applications, and serves as an important benchmark for evaluating the quality of talent cultivation in electronic information-related majors at universities. During preparation and participation, students from the Faculty and the School integrated what they learned in the classroom into real engineering tasks. They sparked ideas through repeated solution demonstrations, overcame technical bottlenecks through rounds of hardware-software joint debugging, and pursued excellence and honed true skills through performance testing and iterative optimization. From conception to implementation, from prototype to finished product, every step embodied the wisdom and sweat of teachers and students, and every breakthrough witnessed the power of persistence and passion. This award is not only the result of the participating team’s hard work, but also another fruitful outcome of the Faculty and the School’s educational philosophy of “promoting learning, teaching, and innovation through competition.”

Looking ahead, the School of Electronic Science and Engineering (School of Microelectronics), Faculty of Engineering, will continue to anchor itself to the goal of cultivating top-notch innovative talents in electronic information and microelectronics. It will iteratively optimize the four-in-one innovative practical education system of “course teaching—research training—competition practice—industry engagement,” continuously upgrade experimental platforms and the science and innovation ecosystem, and strive to build an education ecosystem that deeply integrates “learning—research—competition—innovation,” providing students with more diverse and higher-quality platforms for professional learning and engineering practice. The Faculty and the School will always adhere to a student-growth-centered approach, guiding students to hone solid skills in real practice, broaden their academic horizons through exploration, and temper their willpower and character through hard work, so as to scale new heights in science and technology and pursue their dreams in the vast “chip” sea of stars!