The final of the 5th SDG Open Hack@Tsinghua University took place on November 26, 2023, at the Jianhua Building of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University (Tsinghua SEM). Eighteen innovative teams from 21 hacks competed in the final stage. Ultimately, the Hack3 team, known as the Concord Medical Heart Team, emerged victorious and won the gold award.

The gold award winners

The SDG Open Hack is an innovative entrepreneurship practice course, featuring the integration of competition and courses, open and interdisciplinary collaboration, team learning, university-enterprise cooperation, and the fusion of science and education. It is dedicated to cultivating students' creativity, initiative, international competence, and teamwork skills.

Integrating the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the competition designs different themed hacks, attracting numerous participants from both inside and outside the university. In the last five years, the SDG Open Hack has engaged over 4,000 individuals in innovation challenges, resulting in the formation of more than 700 creative teams. Together, these teams have developed over 700 innovative solutions, generating significant interest in sustainable development across the Tsinghua campus.

The guests and jurors participating in this final included LIU Pei, vice-director of the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office at Tsinghua; HAO Xiuqing, deputy director of Tsinghua X-lab; HUANG Feng, deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee of Tsinghua University; QU Wei, director of the Global Learning Center of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University; Colin Zhang, head of Data and Digital Marketing of Budweiser Brewing Company APAC; ZHANG Donghao, senior director of Career Development at SF Express; PENG Ying, Investor Relations Director of Micropoint Biotechnologies Co., Ltd; CHI Changyan, vice president of Overseas R&D at Elernity; ZHOU Zhipeng, co-founder of Small Design; LIU Xueliang, director of Incubation Business of TusHoldings and executive deputy general manager of TusStar; ZHI Peng, secretary general of Zhongguancun M&A Promotion Association; and WANG Xuehui, partner of Shuimu Tsinghua Alumni Seed Fund.

Several jurors pose for a photo.

LIU Pei, vice-director of the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office at Tsinghua, delivers his speech.

LIU Pei stated in his speech that the last weekend of November each year is known as "Tsinghua Makers' Day," and the SDG Open Hack is one of its important series of events. Innovation and entrepreneurship education is an essential component of the "three-in-one" talent development philosophy, which involves the shaping of values, the cultivating of skills and the imparting of knowledge. It also serves as a crucial method for nurturing top talents capable of addressing national priorities and engaging with global advancements.

LIU said: "We advocate a broad sense of 'entrepreneurship' and hope that innovators can break through existing industry barriers, bring new vitality, and organically integrate personal development with social trends." LIU expressed that this year's SDG Open Hack made in-depth explorations in promoting the interaction between industry and academia.

The entire competition has set up 21 hacks, including 6 corporate hacks, as well as multiple hacks for rural revitalization social practices, overseas practices, and a special hack for middle school students in Shenzhen. This can better encourage participants to develop innovative solutions and comprehensively cultivate movers who will actively contribute to the future sustainable development cause.

SDG Open Hack international partners Nikhil Seth, executive director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), UN Assistant Secretary-General, and chair of the Advisory Committee of the Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative, along with Thomas Maillart, senior lecturer at the School of Economics and Management of Geneva University and founding president of Open Geneva, sent a video message of congratulations to the event. They expressed their delight in witnessing the success of Tsinghua University's SDG Open Hack for five consecutive years and the growing participation of innovators, who contribute their intellectual prowess to global sustainable development.

Nikhil Seth delivers a video message.

For example, the Hack19 project, led by the "Wood Wasps" Green Mobility Team, aims to build a smart supply chain ecosystem in the digital age. The team is dedicated to resolving the contradiction between SF Express' substantial investment in sustainable development and the lack of awareness among consumers and other stakeholders.

Through research on consumer values and cognitive psychology, the team has identified that the key to enhancing consumer perception is by increasing their sense of participation, fostering a sense of achievement, and reinforcing a sense of gain. By optimizing the ordering process, creating an intellectual property image, establishing personal carbon accounts, and introducing carbon credits, the team's solution is able to enhance consumer perception, develop a service blueprint, and contribute to carbon reduction efforts.

Hack20 project is innovative model for energy transition and development in the context of China's 'dual carbon' goals of reaching peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 - and the project creator, the Xingyuan Design Team, is committed to becoming a leader in the field of electrified highways. The carbon reduction in the transportation industry against the backdrop of China's dual carbon goals is significant, with the number of new energy vehicles in China increasing year by year.

Despite this progress, the sustainability of the power battery supply chain still needs to be strengthened. To address this problem, the team has developed a mobile wireless charging system and designed a complete smart operation system that is applicable to diverse scenarios. It achieves non-stop charging, eliminates range anxiety, and has tremendous market potential.

Teams present their solutions.

The jurors provided recommendations on various aspects of each team's project, including the project's core positioning, cost advantages, market launch plans, target audience selection, and the pain points addressed.

As a juror, WANG Xuehui praised and encouraged the overall performance and innovative and creative ideas of each team. Drawing from personal experience, he pointed out that industry selection is crucial in the upcoming entrepreneurial phase. He emphasized the dominance of "hard technology" in the future and expressed his anticipation for teams to closely align their projects with present day needs and further iterate on innovative entrepreneurial solutions that embody Tsinghua's distinctive characteristics.

A juror makes comments.

The SDG Open Hack@Tsinghua University has allowed students to see the world from a broader perspective. With the support of abundant educational resources from both inside and outside the university, Tsinghua x-lab will continue promoting the concept of sustainable development in a robust and long-term fashion.

Participants pose for a group photo.