A team of Aerospace Engineering students from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) won the runner-up prize recently in the 2024 International Heat Sink Design Competition jointly organised by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The AeroProMax team, consisting of four third-year students from the Aerospace Engineering programme of UNNC, Yang Zhang, Junyuan Jiang, Yiwei Wang, and Luying Xia, emerged as the only Chinese university team to reach the finals. Competing alongside students from top international universities like the University of Michigan, Purdue University, and ETH Zurich, they stood out with their self-developed heat sink and excellent team collaboration.
The ASME K-16/IEEE EPS International Heat Sink Design Competition is one of the most influential heat sink design competitions worldwide, gathering top engineers and academic representatives worldwide. "Our students faced opponents who were mostly master's and doctoral students. In previous competitions, the winners were doctoral students from Purdue University. However, our students withstood the pressure and performed outstandingly," said the team’s supervisors, Dr Yi Nie from the Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute (CBI) and Dr Shanshan Long from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at UNNC.
The award-winning heat sink, inspired by a honeycomb, underwent rigorous performance testing, achieving world-class standards in structure and performance. It demonstrated broad application potential, optimising heat dissipation for electronic components in various industrial scenarios, from supercomputer data centres to consumer electronics, improving overall machine energy efficiency and operational stability.
Initially, the team faced challenges in professional knowledge and practical experience as third-year students. During the six-month preparation, Dr Shanshan Long and Dr Yi Nie, provided extensive support. They helped the team gradually strengthen their theoretical knowledge and practical skills: Dr Nie provided valuable advice on additive manufacturing and product design optimisation, while Dr Long offered expertise in fluid dynamics and heat transfer.
"By participating in this competition, we learned a lot, especially broadened our horizons and gained an international perspective. Moreover, we truly applied the knowledge from the classroom to real projects," Junyuan Jiang and other members expressed. This process significantly enhanced their research capabilities, team cooperation spirit, and project management skills. The entire competition experience far surpassed the honour itself. As team member Yiwei Wang noted, they deeply understood the critical role of theoretical knowledge in practical industrial applications, laying a solid foundation for future academic research and industrial practice.
This aligns with one of UNNC's longstanding educational philosophies: continually encouraging students to explore and ignite the "flame" of knowledge-seeking. Beyond classroom teaching, the extracurricular activities are an essential part of UNNC students' campus life, helping them to discover their potential. "We have always been committed to providing more research opportunities for undergraduates," said Dr Nie.
Published on 28 June 2024