The project proposal defense day

After a long period of preparations and exhaustive work, the day had arrived. Proposals defending had started the day before, and some of my colleagues and I were scheduled to be the last presenters. This was my first time to do a presentation with panelists in different locations. At Quzhou Experimental Station we were led by Professor Jiao Xiaoqiang, Professor Zhang Hongyan, and Professor Jiang Rongfeng. There were other assessors online, and the committee from my college. My supervisor, Dr. Cong Wenfeng was the chairman of today's activity. Several colleagues presented before me in the morning. After the tea break, I then presented and received some comments and contributions from the committee. Overall, every student got assistance from all panelists depending on his or her topic.

Furthermore, having time to interact with other experts as well as my supervisor gave me a good impression. Some of my colleagues were presenting from Africa while others were in Beijing. Those in Beijing had an advantage since connectivity was better. However, the African counterparts did struggle with the internet to the extent that we had to improvise and make sure they completed their task. At the end of the session, overall suggestions were given by the chairman of the committee, and a group photo was taken for students in Quzhou with the professors. Professor Jiao then mentioned that we would meet in the evening for a discussion about how to incorporate the suggestions from the panelists into our work. I applauded the perseverance that he had to see us produce better results as each day passed.