The “Whampoa Military Academy of the New Energy Vehicle Industry” Demonstrates Strong Educational Impact

On December 11, the results launch event of the GAC Toyota Innovators Design Competition concluded successfully at the South China University of Technology (SCUT). Design teams as well as faculty and student representatives from SCUT, the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and the South China Agricultural University participated in the event.
At the event, a prototype vehicle designed by the Smart Mobility student team of the School of Design at SCUT was officially unveiled. The vehicle attracted significant attention, with many faculty members and students stopping to experience it firsthand, making it the focal point of the launch event. This achievement not only highlights the innovative strength of SCUT students in the field of automotive design, but also underscores the university’s deep foundation and outstanding results in talent cultivation as the so-called “Whampoa Military Academy of the New Energy Vehicle industry.”

SCUT Smart Mobility Student Team and the Realized Prototype Vehicle

As one of the earliest universities in China to establish automotive-related programs, SCUT has been deeply engaged in the automotive field for more than four decades, supplying a large number of outstanding professionals to the industry. Enterprises founded or led by SCUT alumni account for a significant share of the new energy vehicle sector, earning the university its reputation as the “Whampoa Military Academy of the New Energy Vehicle industry.” Leveraging the abundant creative industry resources of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area and its advantages in international development strategies, the School of Design at SCUT adheres to a development philosophy that integrates science and art, design and culture. The school actively promotes deep integration between industry and education by building high-level creative practice platforms, enabling students to hone their professional skills in real industrial scenarios.

Competition Teams Presenting Their Design Proposals

The Innovators Design Competition focused on the diverse lifestyle scenarios of young users, requiring submissions to balance personalization, practicality, and emotional appeal. The SCUT Smart Mobility design team stood out with its keen insight into user needs, solid professional expertise, and innovative design concepts, ultimately winning the championship. With strong support from GAC Toyota, the team’s design proposal was successfully realized as a full-scale production vehicle. This milestone represents a benchmark case in which a university design concept was translated into a physical vehicle for the first time in the history of the competition, vividly demonstrating the practical outcomes of SCUT’s “three-innovation-oriented” (creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship) talent cultivation model.

Award Presentation to the Winning Team

“The outcomes of this competition are a vivid reflection of the university’s integration of industry and education and its collaborative approach to talent development,” said Xiao Yiqiang, Dean of the School of Design at SCUT. He noted that the Smart Mobility Design Studio of the School of Design has long focused on the development of China’s indigenous automotive brands and has already delivered a large number of outstanding design professionals to the industry. Through the establishment of interdisciplinary centers, the school promotes cross-disciplinary research between the humanities and engineering and advances paradigm shifts in independent knowledge system development. By closely aligning with industry trends and actively engaging in major national and regional projects, the school is committed to cultivating high-caliber design talent that meets the development needs of new-quality productive forces in the Greater Bay Area.
Wang Jun, Vice President of GAC Toyota, stated that the automotive industry is currently at a critical stage of transformation toward intelligence and electrification, with market competition becoming increasingly intense. Innovation has become the core driving force of corporate development. Unlike traditional design competitions, this competition placed greater emphasis on the real-world implementation of design concepts, teamwork, and the comprehensive development of talent. By realizing university design concepts as actual vehicles for the first time, the competition set a new industry precedent and served as a vivid practice of the philosophy of “educating talent through vehicle creation.” Looking ahead, GAC Toyota will continue to deepen university–enterprise collaboration with institutions such as SCUT to jointly build innovation platforms that better align with the needs of industry, academia, and research.