Future engineers contest to be held, with pandemic theme

The 17th Shanghai Future Engineers Competition will start accepting online applications in early September.

This year’s competition is themed on the COVID-19 pandemic, and participants are asked to design a medical treatment and rescue station. This replaces the previously-set Olympic Games theme, according to Cao Xiaoqing, deputy director of Shanghai Education Center of Science and Art.

The competition is set to officially kick off in November, Cao said.

On Wednesday, asml, a leading company in the lithography industry, offered 400,000 yuan (US$58,000) in funding to the competition, becoming the event’s sponsor for a fourth consecutive year.

“More than 90 percent of our staff are engineers or have related backgrounds, so the competition tallies with our company culture,” said Shen Bo, the company’s vice president. “Besides, our engineers will work with students in the competition. We hope to make contributions in fostering future engineers.”

The competition, held by the Shanghai Science Education and Development Foundation and Shanghai Education Center of Science and Art, attracts about 40,000 primary and middle school students each year.