Following their outstanding achievements in the 14th competition, students from the Faulty of Data Science at City University of Macau continued their success this year! In the recently concluded 15th National Marine Vehicle Design and Manufacturing Competition, two teams from City University of Macau, under the meticulous guidance of Associate Professor Duan Junwei, overcame numerous challenges, achieving excellent results in the South China regional competition and advancing all the way to the national finals. Ultimately, both teams won the national second prize, continuing and further enhancing the brilliant record of City University of Macau students in top-level national competitions!

Competition Review: Shining Every Step, Scoring Continuous Achievements

The two participating teams consist of students Yuan Zi'ang, Li Xiangjin, Wang Zexin, Zhang Xuanting, as well as Li Jiaxi, Pei Haolin, Zheng Wenjun, Wang Deyao, He Ruiqi. Through two rounds of intense competition, the students advanced steadily and delivered outstanding results:

• South China Regional Competition (11–12 July, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi): Students from City University of Macau made an impressive debut. Leveraging outstanding technical capabilities, the surface vessel team claimed the First Prize in the Surface Group (Design & Manufacturing Category). The navigation team also delivered a remarkable performance and secured the Second Prize in the Intelligent Navigation Group. Both teams qualified for the National Finals.
• National Finals (8–9 August, Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai Campus, Zhuhai, Guangdong): Competing against top-tier teams from 12 competition divisions nationwide, the two City University of Macau teams remained composed and fearless against strong rivals. They once again demonstrated their prowess on the national stage, walking away with National Second Prizes for both the Surface Vessel Group and the Intelligent Navigation Group.

Technology Empowerment: Highlights of Competition Entries

Competing in the Intelligent Navigation and Design & Manufacturing – Surface Group tracks, the two teams demonstrated solid engineering practice capabilities and high-level innovative research thinking.

• Intelligent Navigation Group: Focus on Marine Intelligent Navigation System In the Intelligent Navigation track, the team led by Yuan Zi’ang explored the optimisation and engineering application of marine intelligent navigation systems in their entry. Thanks to rigorous scheme design, innovative technical approaches and excellent on-site defence, the team earned high recognition from the judging panel.
• Design & Manufacturing – Surface Group The City University of Macau Unmanned Surface Vehicle Team, captained by Li Jiaxi, focused on unmanned surface vehicle design and control technologies for the Design & Manufacturing – Surface Group track. Guided by Associate Professor Duan Junwei, the team broke conventional frameworks. Innovatively adopting Large Language Models (LLMs), the group realised intelligent analysis of voyage logs and autonomous fault diagnosis. Combined with digital twins, a dual-domain coordinated control architecture enabling virtual-real interaction was established. This control scheme featuring deep integration of large language models and digital twins represents an original initiative among similar competitions. Boasting stable manoeuvrability and groundbreaking innovations in architecture and algorithms, the project stood out with prominent technical highlights and received high praise from on-site expert judges.

Competition Introduction

The 15th National Competition on Marine Vehicle Design and Manufacturing is hosted by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited, the Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and the International Organization for Innovation and Cooperation in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering.

This edition of the competition boasted an extensive scale. The regional contests drew participants from 361 institutions across the country, comprising 5,404 teams with a total of 30,921 contestants competing against one another. After fierce rounds of competition, 92 institutions, 1,559 teams and 9,542 contestants qualified for the National Finals to compete at the highest level.

Reflections of Award-winning Faculty and Students

Supervisor: Associate Professor Duan Junwei

Having secured remarkable achievements successively in authoritative national marine competitions, I am sincerely proud of the robust technical competence and pioneering innovative spirit demonstrated by students from the Faculty of Data Science, City University of Macau. This year, the students not only exhibited a solid engineering foundation. More notably, they stepped out of their comfort zones and boldly integrated state-of-the-art AI technologies including large language models and digital twins with conventional unmanned surface vehicles.

This interdisciplinary innovative mindset represents exactly the core competency our faculty strives to nurture. The awards are not only the finest affirmation of teaching outcomes, but also serve as a bridge enabling students to translate academic theories into frontier industrial practice.

Moving forward, we will leverage more high-standard scientific innovation platforms of this kind to continuously unlock students’ research potential. We aim to cultivate more elite interdisciplinary talents with global vision and hands-on expertise to contribute to the national Smart Ocean Strategy.

Reflections of Award-winning Faculty and Students

Team Leader: Yuan Zi'ang

From initial theoretical deduction to precise navigation on the water during the National Finals, our system was forged through countless days and nights of repeated testing, revision and redesign in the laboratory. Competition this year was exceptionally fierce. The contest not only pushed our capabilities to optimise cutting-edge marine navigation algorithms to the limit, but also served as a rigorous test of our resilience under pressure.

I am deeply grateful to my teammates Li Xiangjin, Wang Zexin and Zhang Xuanting. We forged a strong research bond amid continuous trial and error. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Associate Professor Duan Junwei. Whenever the team hit bottlenecks in designing complex navigation routes, Professor Duan offered incisive academic insights that cleared our obstacles.

Our experience of advancing from the South China Regional Competition and securing a high ranking at the national stage has given us a profound understanding of the enormous application potential of data science in marine scenarios. It has further strengthened our resolve to pursue in-depth research within the smart ocean sector.

Reflections of Award-winning Faculty and Students

Team Leader: Li Jiaxi

Translating conceptual models into physical prototypes was a rigorous challenge of striking a balance between lightweight design and high performance. After qualifying for the National Finals through the South China Regional Competition, inspired by Professor Duan’s forward-looking guidance, the team broke conventional boundaries and carried out disruptive iterative upgrades to the physical vessel. We not only developed brand-new detection algorithms, but also pioneered the integration of Large Language Models and digital twin technologies to establish a dual-domain coordinated control architecture featuring virtual-real interaction.

I would like to thank teammates Pei Haolin, Zheng Wenjun, Wang Deyao and He Ruiqi for their full collaboration. Each member leveraged their strengths in architecture design, algorithm development, control systems and practical operation, ensuring stable operation of our solution on the national competition stage. Special gratitude goes to Associate Professor Duan Junwei, who provided meticulous guidance and oversight throughout the whole process — from the deduction of underlying algorithms to the physical implementation of the large language model and dual-domain system.

This journey has brought me profound insight: when the courage to break boundaries is rooted in unshakable team cohesion, no precipitous peak can stand in our way. Every hardship will eventually become a medal of honour witnessing our continuous growth.