On 25 December 2025, the 7th Qiushi Innovation Creativity Competition concluded successfully in Ningbo. The event focused on innovative applications of intelligent construction, green and low-carbon technologies, and digital management in engineering practice.
A group of PhD students, Zhuhao Zhang, Yizhao Deng, and Mingzhe Ran from the Department of Civil Engineering, supervised by Professor Juan Wang, won the Innovation Prize for their project titled "Data Analysis and Identification of Pavement Distresses Using Ground-Penetrating Radar".
During the final defense, the team closely aligned their presentation with realworld engineering needs, clearly demonstrating the project's innovative approach, key technical methods, and practical application value. Following evaluation by the expert panel, the team earned fourth place overall—the highest ranking among all participating universities.
This achievement demonstrates students' comprehensive capabilities in engineering innovation and highlights the university's effectiveness in innovation and practice oriented talent cultivation.
As road infrastructure service life increases, hidden internal distresses become more prominent. Ground-penetrating radar, as a non-destructive testing technique, enables continuous scanning by transmitting high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The team transformed raw radar signals into interpretable profiles through signal denoising, calibration, and imaging procedures, then applied intelligent recognition algorithms to automatically identify and localize pavement distresses. This approach allows quantitative determination of distress spatial location, burial depth, and affected extent, facilitating the transition from experience-driven maintenance toward data-supported, precision-oriented asset management.
Regarding the award, team members noted this achievement was made possible by the university's dynamic research environment and Professor Wang's dedicated supervision. "The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) provides students with an open, well-structured, and highly supportive research platform, which enables us to integrate practical challenges in road engineering with data analysis and intelligent identification methods," stated a team member. "More importantly, we also learn to understand the importance of translating research outcomes into real-world engineering solutions. "
Professor Juan Wang has long been engaged in research on road and infrastructure condition assessment, non-destructive testing technologies, and data analysis methods. Her team has established a solid research foundation in pavement structural performance evaluation and radar data interpretation.
This award also reflects the success of the University’s Joint Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) initiative. Since 2023, UNNC and Shandong University have collaborated through a DTP to cultivate doctoral students in energy, environmental, and civil engineering. Two of the awardwinning students, Zhuhao Zhang and Yizhao Deng, are fully funded by the DTP scholarship.