Yesterday, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) held its annual Summa Cum Laude Graduate award ceremony. The ceremony acknowledges the work of its most outstanding students over the previous four years. These students are not necessarily the most academically gifted students, but the awards seek to show the well-rounded students that SUSTech has produced.

There were 36 judges in today’s events, including SUSTech University Council Chairperson Guo Yurong and Vice Chairperson Li Fengliang. All the heads of academic departments were also judging the students, as were the Deans of the Residential Colleges, the heads of the administrative departments, the student council president and a former top ten graduate representative. More than 300 people crammed in to see the presentations and announcement of the Top Ten Graduates.

In opening the ceremony, Vice Chairperson Li Fengliang said that the “Top Ten Graduates” selection has become part of campus culture. It is the epitome of SUSTech’s commitment to training top-notch innovative talents. The “Top Ten Graduates” consider all the candidate’s qualities including their academic performance, public service, honor awards, and social dedication. He was gratified by the excellent results achieved by the candidates, and is proud of the hard work of the students. Li Fengliang hoped that the candidates and all SUSTech students would continue to strive for excellence and pursue progress.

18 students were competing to be a Top Ten student out of 174 applicants. They each prepared engaging PowerPoint presentations and videos that explained who they were and what they had done throughout their time at SUSTech. Each presentation dealt with their experience and achievements in their respective studies, research, charity, volunteer service and student society engagement. After each presentation, students debated with and answered taxing questions from the panel of judges.

The panel of judges accounted for 70% of a candidate’s score, with the audience and the online voters accounting for 15% each. The top ten graduates of 2019 were announced by Vice Chairperson Li Fengliang:

1. Chen Ting (Zhicheng College), Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering;
2. He Zilong (Zhicheng College), Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering;
3. Tian Yiqun (Zhixin College), School of Environmental Science and Engineering;
4. Guo Xinge (Shuren College), Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering;
5. Yao Yao (Zhiren College), School of Environmental Science and Engineering;
6. Liu Lingjie (Zhixin College), Department of Biology;
7. Zheng Huiyuan (Zhiren College), Department of Physics;
8. Zhang Shiheng (Zhicheng College), Department of Mathematics,;
9. Zeng Yixun (Zhiren College), Department of Computer Science and Engineering; and
10. Xie Yi (Shuli College), Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

The newly elected “Top Ten Graduates” then delivered their acceptance speeches.