Recently, at the 2025 Woolmark Performance Challenge, Dai Huiqi, a sophomore student at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT), under the supervision of Zhou Shao’en, was awarded the prestigious Woolmark Research Bursary for her forward-looking and innovative design PassionShield: Safety in the Fire. She was also the only student from China to receive this honor in the competition.

The 2025 competition was jointly organized by The Woolmark Company and the professional sports equipment brand Alpinestars, attracting 657 participants from 135 universities across 12 countries worldwide. Drawing inspiration from the Macau Grand Prix racing circuit, Dai Huiqi’s project focuses on the critical “golden rescue window” in racing accidents and proposes an intelligent protective system incorporating Merino wool. The PassionShield system features a three-layer structure—base layer, mid-layer, and outer layer, integrating cooling, flame-retardant, and sensing functions. It achieves a breakthrough transformation from a comfort-oriented base layer to an intelligent protective core, offering proactive life-safety protection for racing drivers.

This award highlights the effectiveness of BIFT’s interdisciplinary talent-training model. The university will continue to build international practice platforms and cultivate professionals with both global vision and strong innovative capabilities.