A young man from a small town in Inner Mongolia wins the national competition award for engaging in science and innovation during evening self-study time

China News Service, Xilin Gol, November 13th. Title: Engaging in science and innovation during evening self-study time. A young boy from a small town in Inner Mongolia won the national competition award.

China News Service reporter Aoruan

During evening self-study every Monday and Friday, Tenglong always goes to the school’s science and technology innovation activity center (maker space), where there are science and technology teachers and like-minded students. One hour is not long. He is always in front of the computer, perfecting the completed works, conceiving new ideas, and learning new techniques.

Tenglong is a sophomore at the Sixth Middle School of Xilinhot City, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This year, he won the China Association for Science and Technology Chairman's Award at the 40th National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition with a smart bathing chair designed for his grandma, and the opportunity to participate in the 2026 World's Top Scientists Forum. After the news spread, this Mongolian teenager from the small grassland town of Xilingol attracted the attention of many media.

Recently, a reporter from China News Network came to the No. 6 Middle School in Xilinhot City and met Tenglong during the break.

The bathing chair invented for his grandma won him the national competition award

Tenglong lived in his grandma's house before he entered elementary school. After going to school, he would visit his grandma from time to time. He had a particularly deep relationship with her. In recent years, my grandma’s legs and feet have not been very good, and her home has been undergoing some aging-friendly modifications. However, she still fell while taking a bath alone.

This accident made Tenglong, who was just a freshman in high school at the time, very anxious. Combined with the scientific and technological innovation practice that he has adhered to for many years, he wanted to design a bathing aid for his grandma.

At first, I just wanted to solve the problem of inconvenience for grandma to take a bath, and there was no clear design direction. Later, after reviewing the information and repeatedly discussing with the teacher, he finally decided on the plan of intelligent bathing chair.

It took about 5 months from determining the plan to forming the model. Major technologies such as open source hardware programming, artificial intelligence, laser cutting, and 3D printing were all learned in the Science and Technology Innovation Club.

Initially, the back-rubbing device on the chair consisted of two discs with limited coverage, so he added an up and down adjustment function to the discs; to make the operation more convenient, he tried to add voice control to the button control; to make it easier to get up, he installed liftable armrests for the chair; for comfort, he added a headrest above the back of the chair...

Before the model was outsourced and soft-wrapped, Tamron showed it to my grandma. Grandma was stunned for a while, and then she was very happy. She was full of praise for the armrests and made suggestions for improving the back-rubbing function.

Later, Tenglong took the bathing chair to participate in the 40th National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition and took home the trophy of the Chairman's Award of the China Association for Science and Technology.

Science and technology innovation is not about preparing answers in advance

Tamron's interest in scientific innovation did not start with this bathing chair. When he was in elementary school, he accompanied his younger brother to take programming classes. Later, the school opened a programming club, and he came into contact with modular programming. Tenglong told reporters that programming is like building blocks. You can build things step by step according to your own ideas.

When he was in junior high school, Tenglong joined the school's science and innovation club. As he came into contact with more and more technologies, he began to try to turn the ideas in his mind into tangible works. From programming, robots to smart bathing chairs, Tenglong told reporters that although the functions and application scenarios are different, the underlying logic of science and technology innovation is the same. “It’s all about building something from scratch, from zero to one.”

In the past, Tamron's scientific and technological equipment was an old computer that my father had "retired". Now, the school is his “base camp” for science and technology innovation, and almost all the learning and practice related to science and technology innovation are completed in the school. When he encounters something he doesn’t understand, he will ask the teacher for advice and then search for tutorials online.

"Science and technology innovation is actually very different from daily schoolwork learning." Tenglong analyzed that daily learning is staged and has a strong purpose. When learning a certain type of knowledge, you have to answer targeted questions. Science and technology innovation is a process of exploration. At first, it is difficult to know what technologies you need to master. “There is no one person in the world who can hold all the technologies in his or her head.”

"Everyone can be a great person"

In the eyes of the outside world, for a young man from a small prairie town, the path of scientific innovation requires more effort. But Tamron doesn't think this is a problem.

"Compared to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Xilin Gol is relatively remote and seems to have poorer resources and technological innovation conditions, but this is not a reason for me to give up on my dream." During the interview, this small town boy was very determined. "You must be determined and learn from scientists' spirit of hard work and fear of difficulties; you must maintain your love and do what you want to do."

"My heart of exploration has not changed over the years." Tenglong attributes his improvement and changes over the years to his original intention. He told reporters that because of this, he participated in competitions, communicated with students from different regions, learned more techniques, met many like-minded friends and knowledgeable teachers, and saw a wider world. "The people participating in the competition are all excellent, but you can't give up just because others are better than you."

"I think I am a very powerful person." Tenglong's eyes were shining when he talked about his dream, "Everyone can be a powerful person, and powerful people can come from every corner."

This winter, Tenglong’s evening self-study “science and technology time” is still busy. While he continued to perfect the bathing chair he gave to his grandmother, a new work was slowly taking shape in his mind. "This is a science and technology creation that is suitable for everyone. I want to use it to continue participating in next year's National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition."