Representing Shanxi province, Du Hao from the software school at Shanxi University recently won the third prize in the final of Huawei Undergraduate ICT Skills Competition (2016-2017).

Du, who majors in software engineering, and students from other local colleges won the top three prizes in the Shanxi leg of the preliminary competition, and competed in the final in Shenzhen on Feb 26.

The competition, whose themes were internet protocol technology and information technology, was designed to assess undergraduates' practical skills in networking applications and to show future trends the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.

All entrants had to complete the tasks in a real laboratory environment within eight hours, with network connection devices offered by the organizer, Huawei.

Lasting from Dec 5 to Feb 27, the event was divided into China and overseas divisions. More than 10,000 Chinese undergraduates took part in the eight-day preliminaries with 78 reaching the final. Six delegations from countries and regions — including Australia, Russia and Western Europe — got through to the final out of 2,500 foreign participants.

There were 96 contestants from 32 teams in the final. Delegations from Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces, Beijing and Russia shared third prize.

Founded in 2003, the university's school of software is committed to training students in computer and software technologies through cooperation with leading provincial teaching facilities, national and international exchanges and internship programs.

Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies is a world-leading ICT solutions provider. Its ICT products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving some one-third of the world's population.