The winners of the 2026 Fujian Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition have been announced at the China International Investment and Trade Fair. According to the results of the international jury, a project of the TPU researchers was among the top three projects, and it was awarded a bronze medal.

Photo: fujiantalent.com

The competition was held in Xiamen (China) and was aimed at attracting, supporting and developing promising innovative projects focused on talented professionals from all over the world. In 2026, its key areas have been electronic information, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. The total prize fund of the competition was almost 4 million yuan.

In total, almost 1,500 international projects took part in the competition, 116 of them reached the final. The project by TPU researchers, "Development of X-ray tomographic equipment for non-destructive testing of silicon nitride bearing balls" was among the finalists. The project is carried out with the support of the federal program of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation "Priority 2030" of the national project "Youth and Children". The TPU project has successfully passed all the qualifying stages and received a high expert assessment.

The goal of the project is to create an innovative hardware and software solution for the high-precision diagnosis of internal defects in silicon nitride bearing balls. They are widely used in high-load and high-speed bearings, and the reliability of such products directly depends on control quality. Implementation of the TPU solution in the future will improve control accuracy, reduce inspection time, eliminate production risks, automate defect analysis and ensure integration into existing production lines. Researchers from the Research School of High-Energy Process Physics and the Research and Educational Center for Advanced Studies of TPU are working on the project.

“A separate interest in the project is related to the prospects of entering the Chinese market. Today, China occupies about 70% of the domestic and 20% of the global market of silicon nitride balls, remaining the largest production base, while experiencing the need for advanced quality control technologies. The target market of ceramic bearings and precision balls is estimated to be 40-100 million dollars. The recognition in the competition is an important step for us towards promoting the university's developments not only in the Chinese market, but also in the markets of the BRICS countries,” — notes Vladimir Smolyansky, head of the project, Deputy Director for Development of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Process Physics.

Following the results of the competition, the Chinese side expressed interest in the TPU development.