Competitors keen to pass on expertise

Two students from a college in Henan province won this year's mobile robotics gold medal at the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Bordeaux, France.

Hou Kunpeng and Tang Gaoyuan, students at Luohe Technician College, won first prize with a miniature robot that can fetch medicine and deliver it to designated "patients".

With the development of artificial intelligence technology, robots are now commonly seen in logistics businesses, manufacturing industries, restaurants and hospitals.

Tang said, "I became interested in robotics at a young age. I think intelligent manufacturing will become the trend, so I chose to major in robotic application and maintenance in an attempt to set foot in this field."

Born in 1999 in Xuchang, Henan province, Tang began his college studies in 2018. Hou is two years younger than Tang, and their daily courses cover programming, robotic vision and kinematics.

Like other Chinese contestants in the WorldSkills Competition, training for the pair was intense and well-designed.

Hou said training started in June, after he and Tang had outperformed other candidates from around the country.

"We received a mission one morning, for which we were required to assemble the robot, program it and make adjustments, just like in the real competition. The training that day lasted for 12 hours," Hou said.

The training session was videotaped for future reference and for improvements to be made.

In Bordeaux, the five sections of the competition had to be completed in four days. The task was to construct a robot to deliver medicine to a designated location.

Tang said, "The robot in the competition was a miniature one, which meant we had to have the experience needed to assemble it. We also had to be extremely precise in programming the device."

The task on the third day was more difficult, as contestants were required to open the "window" of a medicine cabinet for the robot and close it afterwards.

Tang said: "We had never dealt with such a task before, so we changed the structure of the robot's claw and improved the programming for it. We were the only team that managed to close the window."

Wang Bo, who started coaching Hou and Tang in 2018, said both of them have the ability to perform well. "Tang rarely gives up until he achieves his goal, and Hou is thoughtful and creative," Wang said.

The robotics competition also requires contestants to have good teamwork.

Hou said, "When we have different opinions, we discuss them and choose the better solution."

Tang and Hou have decided to pass on the "spirit of WorldSkills" to others.

"I have learned knowledge and gained valuable experience from these years of training, and I hope to pursue lifelong learning through practicing in the future," Hou said.

Beauty therapy

Shen Wenqing, who likes to try out different hairstyles, currently sports dyed yellow locks with pink highlights.

"As a stylist, you need to be good at handling different hairstyles and do your best to make a style perfect," she said.

At the recent WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Helsinki, Finland, Shen won a silver medal for hairdressing.

Born in Xuancheng, Anhui province, in 1999, she attended a vocational college in 2014 in Gongshu district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, to learn beauty therapy. Soon after enrolling, Shen changed her major to hairdressing, aiming to compete on the world stage, as her college had better teaching resources for hairdressing than others.

In September last year, Shen began intensive training in a number of cities as a national candidate for this year's competition. She usually rose at 7 am and ran for 2 kilometers as part of her physical training. During the day, she took module courses in skills training, while at night she practiced her drawing and English.

"Drawing helps us become sensitive to colors, which is essential for styling hair. We also need to practice English to communicate with models," Shen said.

In Helsinki, Shen and 19 other candidates from different countries and regions competed in seven sections for four days, including men's haircutting, coloring and styling, cutting mustaches and styling them, cutting women's hair, coloring it and styling.

In the competition, Shen was required to replicate hairstyles in photographs within a given time. Before each section, she had only 15 minutes to prepare her work.

After she graduated in 2017, Shen taught hairstyling at Hangzhou Qinggong Technician College, as she wanted to give something back to society and her college.

Now, graduates from vocational schools have different options for employment, Shen said. Her college has joined many different types of enterprises and overseas institutions in providing internships and further studies opportunities for students.

During her spare time, Shen joins her coach, Ji Zhenglong, in charity activities and she also cuts hair for free at local communities and parks in Hangzhou.

"I feel good to see the elderly satisfied with their new hairstyles, and I think that being valuable to society is more important than mastering a skill," she said.

Keen interest

A college graduate from Chongqing claimed the top honor in the beauty therapy competition at the WorldSkills Competition in a category that used to be dominated by European competitors.

On Oct 24, Wang Pei, 23, won China's first beauty therapy title at the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Helsinki.

As a young girl, Wang showed a keen interest in wearing makeup and dressing smartly. She often dressed herself and her sisters, using the skills she had learned. In 2017, Wang enrolled for her dream major of image design at Chongqing City Management College.

"It is painstaking mastering the skills, and the beginning is always the hardest part," Wang said.

When she started to learn the profession, she couldn't prevent her hands trembling when she attached fake eyelashes or carried out manicures.

One year later, Wang's hard work and talent in her field was discovered by her tutor Wang Peng, the head expert and group leader of Team China Beauty Therapy for the WorldSkills Competition.

Wang Pei said she once hit a bottleneck regarding cosmetic techniques. She wanted to give up, but her tutor helped her find different popular samples from overseas to guide her one step at a time in practicing from sketches and on models.

During intensive training this year, Wang, the tutor, invited local teachers in art, ballet and tai chi, along with a traditional Chinese medicine expert from Beijing to improve Wang Pei's skills.

The competition module featured seven tasks — advanced facial treatment, body treatment, hair removal, nail art, makeup, eyelash extensions, and manicures and pedicures.

Wang excelled at body treatment on the third day. On a model's back, she used a set of sports massage techniques that combined elements of traditional Chinese massage and tai chi. Her work won her the highest score among the contestants.

"I feel a strong sense of national identity," Wang said after winning the gold medal. "The techniques come from China, but belong to the world."

Wang recently received a teaching offer from her college. She said she will continue to improve her knowledge and skills, and pass them on to her students and future contestants.