On November 12, the Science and Technology Award Conference of the China National Textile and Apparel Council was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The conference announced the winners of the 2024 China National Textile and Apparel Council Science and Technology Progress Award and recognized the awarded organizations and individuals. The “Science and Technology for the Winter Olympics” project, titled “Key Technologies and Applications for Developing High-performance Clothing for Winter Sports Training and Competitions,” involving faculty and students from the Wuhan Sports University (WHSU), was awarded the first prize for scientific and technological progress.

The China National Textile and Apparel Council Scientific and Technological Progress Award was established with approval from the National Office for Science & Technology Awards. It aims to honor organizations or individuals that have made outstanding contributions in basic research, technological innovation, promotion of scientific and technological achievements, and industrialization within the textile industry. The awarded project, led by the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, was a collaborative effort with WHSU and seven other institutions.

Professor Zheng Weitao’s team from WHSU played a crucial role in this project. Since 2019, over 20 faculty and students from Professor Zheng’s team have focused on personalized customization for competitive sports clothing designed for elite athletes in speed events. They conducted physical scans of typical athletic postures, including those of speed skater Gao Tingyu, and employed reverse engineering to model athletes’ movements at various postures and speeds. The team performed extensive numerical calculations on millions of mesh models, meticulously identifying the sources and proportions of air resistance, concentrating on areas of increased drag, and repeatedly optimizing resistance reduction strategies. Based on the optimized plans, the team conducted wind tunnel tests on the clothing, ultimately achieving a drag reduction of 5-10%. The application of numerical simulation technology provided scientific evidence for the design of drag-reducing structures, fabrics, and patterns for competitive clothing, enhancing the efficiency of fabric distribution and structural design for reduced.