From December 8th to 9th, the National Finals of Enterprise Operation Simulation Competition of China University Students Engineering Practice and Innovation Competition 2023 was held on the central campus of Shandong University. It was sponsored by the Engineering Training Teaching Guidance Committee of Higher Education Institutions under the Ministry of Education of the PRC, co-organized by the Economics and Management Discipline Group of the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center of Educational Institutions, and hosted by the School of Management and the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Shandong University. Qu Mingjun, member of the standing committee of the Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department of Shandong University, and Qi Guijie, person in charge of the Enterprise Operation Simulation Competition of China University Students Engineering Practice and Innovation Competition and Dean of the School of Business School of Shandong University, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Li Shuangshou, person in charge of the Competition and Vice Director of the Teaching Guidance Committee, made an online speech, and Xing Jianping, Vice Dean of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship presided over the opening ceremony.
Qu Mingjun said that Shandong University always attaches great importance to innovation and entrepreneurship education, takes the lead in establishing innovation credits in China, builds a high-level team of innovation and entrepreneurship supervises represented by national and provincial research leaders, teaching masters, etc., and promotes the change from the combination of course and competition to the integration of them, constructing a new ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship education with the characteristics of Shandong University. Shandong University will take the competition as an opportunity to comprehensively strengthen the sharing of innovation and entrepreneurship education experience and practical exchanges, and make greater contributions to the construction of a strong country in education, science and technology, and talents.
Li Shuangshou said that the competition has long insisted on serving the national strategy of innovation drive and manufacturing power, constructing a practical training platform oriented to the actual engineering, serving the needs of the society, and collaborating innovation between the school and enterprise, and cultivating excellent engineering talents to serve the manufacturing power. In the new era, excellent engineering talents need to have stronger digital, management, entrepreneurship, and cross-border cooperation ability and he expects the new generation of students to innovate with wisdom and talent.
Qi Guijie mentioned that in order to promote teaching reform in higher engineering education and realize the cross-fertilization among disciplines, the discipline group created the Enterprise Operation Simulation Competition, which stimulates students’ learning interest and innovation potential through the integration of theoretical knowledge and enterprise operation practice. The organizing committee of the competition provides participating institutions with a high-quality curriculum system, offering a practical teaching paradigm for the cultivation of interdisciplinary talents.
Ren Xiaoyang, Deputy Head of the Economics and Management Discipline Group of the Center, swore on behalf of all the referees. Deputy Head Zhang Li, Secretary-general Zhou Honggang, and consultant expert Mao Zhishan of the Center, Secretary of the Youth League Committee of Shandong University Jiang Binggang, Director of the Student Career Guidance Center Xiao Xiang, and Secretary of the Party Committee of the School Meng Qingchun, were present at the opening ceremony. Leading teachers of the participating teams attended.
Up to October in 2023, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) have completed the organization of the school and provincial competitions, with a total of 424 colleges and universities, 5,351 teams, and more than 26,770 teachers and students participating in the competition. 202 teams with more than 1,000 teachers and students from 165 colleges and universities across the country advanced to the National Finals. The preliminary round of the finals was held in the morning of December 9th, and the teams that advanced to the final round took place in the afternoon of the 9th.
As one of the virtual simulation competitions in the China University Students Engineering Practice and Innovation Competition, the Enterprise Operation Simulation Competition focuses on the themes of “Digital Economy”, “Industrial Manufacturing”, “Business-Industry Integration” and so on. It is led by the construction of “Emerging Engineering Education” and “New Liberal Arts”, highlighting multidisciplinary cross-collaboration and innovation, and emphasizing digital operation and sustainable development. The program cultivates students’ ability of digital operation, teamwork and communication, and innovation and entrepreneurship.
In recent years, the School of Management attaches great importance to innovation and entrepreneurship education and integrates it into the process of talent cultivation. Relying on the Student Career Guidance Center and student associations, it constantly improves the guidance and service system of students’ innovation and entrepreneurship; builds a high-level innovation and entrepreneurship guidance team with excellent full-time teachers, young teachers and counselors; sets up the guidance team of the China University Students Engineering Practice and Innovation Competition according to the mode of “One Competition, One Guidance Team”; takes disciplinary competitions as an important part of comprehensive ability cultivation and practical teaching and implements the trinity synergistic cultivation mode of “agenda promotion+curriculum cultivation+research and practical training”, and constructs a competition system for innovation and entrepreneurship that integrates disciplines.
