George Hu · Grade 9 · Shanghai Pinghe

Achieve-
ments.

Five disciplines. One track record built in actual competition.

#6
World Rowing Ranking
95th
MAP Reading Percentile
8
International Awards
Yale
Global Rounds Qualifier
2026
FTC World Championship
140
DET Score · C2 Proficient
01 · Discipline

FTC

FTC Team 19859 · Vice-Captain & Control Systems Lead · Java, PID tuning, sensor fusion

01
FIRST Tech Challenge · Jul 2026 · Istanbul, Turkey
Finalist Alliance Captain · Innovate Award, 2nd
At the 2026 FTC World Championship Premier Event in Istanbul, we captained the Finalist Alliance and placed 2nd for the Innovate Award.
02
California Invitational · 2025
Control Award
Awarded for the best control system design in competition, recognizing autonomous precision, PID-tuned motion, and sensor fusion architecture.
03
Beijing Regional Qualifier · 2025-26
Think Award
Recognised for engineering process and documentation: engineering notebook, systems design, and iterative testing methodology.
04
Lobster Cup International · 2025
Innovate Award
Awarded for innovative solutions applied to the season challenge: novel mechanical and software approaches that set the team apart.
05
China Nationals · 2025
Finalist Alliance Runner-up
Reached the finals alliance at China Nationals, finishing as runner-up and securing the World Championship qualification spot.
06
California Invitational 2025 · Chongqing Qualifier · Lobster Cup International
Champion Alliance · 3 Events
Champion Alliance at California Invitational 2025, the first Chinese team ever to reach Champion Alliance at that event. Also Champion Alliance at Chongqing Qualifier and Lobster Cup International in the same season.
07
6th Caolu Cup · 2026 · China Offseason
Reach Award · Finalist Alliance Captain
At the 6th Caolu Cup (2026 FTC China offseason), FTC Team 19859 won the Reach Award, captained the Finalist Alliance to the finals, and ranked #3 in qualifications.

Roles & contributions

01
FTC Team 19859 · Sep 2024 - Present
Vice-Captain & Control Systems Lead
Built autonomous routines in Java using sensor fusion, PID-tuned motion, and custom state machines. Led strategy and systems architecture for the team.
02
FTC Team 19859 · 2025-26 Season · Sponsorship & Outreach
Built 19859.org · Official Team Website
Designed and developed 19859.org from scratch, the team's bilingual (EN/ZH) public website covering the robot, software, season, and community. Serves as the primary face for sponsors and outreach, documenting the team's ten-year history and 2025-26 DECODE season.
02 · Discipline

Rowing

New Rowing Club · Pinghe School Rowing Team since 2026 · 6-8 hrs/week · International competition since 2023

01
WRICH 2026 · U19 Mixed 5000m Relay
World #6
Ranked 6th in the world in the U19 Mixed 5000m Relay at the World Rowing Indoor Championships 2026.
02
WRICH 2026 · U17 Men 1000m
World #29
Finished 29th globally in the U17 Men 1000m at WRICH 2026, competing against the world's top junior rowers.
03
HKRIC 2026 · U14-16 Men 1000m
#8 Hong Kong Indoor Rowing
Placed 8th in the U14-16 Men 1000m at the Hong Kong Rowing Indoor Championships 2026.
04
Shanghai Youth Open · 2025
2× · 4×
Raced the double (2×) and the quad (4×) at the Shanghai Youth Open 2025.
05
Personal bests · 500m and 1000m at the HK Indoor Rowing Championships · 2000m on Concept2, Oct 2026
Indoor PR Times
500m: 1:35.5 · 1000m: 3:33 · 2000m: 7:18.8 (Concept2 · U14, October 2026; the earlier 7:28.9 sat at the 83rd percentile globally · U14, faster than 83% of competitors). Race-ready splits tracked weekly with video analysis.
06
Nanjing Rowing Masters & Youth Club League · Apr 2026
Gold · Mixed Eight Sweep
1st place in the Mixed Eight Sweep (8+) at the Nanjing Rowing Masters & Youth Club League, commanding the sweep discipline in a full crew environment at open competition level.
07
Nanjing Rowing Masters & Youth Club League · Apr 2026
Silver · Quad Sculls
2nd place in the Quad Sculls (4×). Combined with the eight gold at the same event, confirms dual-discipline mastery, competitive in both sculling and sweeping at open water level.
08
SSSA Indoor Rowing Championship · 2026
Champion · U16 Male Relay
1st place in the U16 Male Relay at the 2026 SSSA Indoor Rowing Championship, Shanghai Secondary School Athletics, domestic indoor competition.
09
Shanghai Dream Regatta · May 2026
Gold + Bronze
Gold in University Men's Eights (8+) and Bronze in Men's Doubles (2×) at the 2026 Shanghai Dream Regatta, competing across both sweep and sculling disciplines at open water level.
10
Shanghai Rowing Open · Sep 2026
4th · Mixed Quad Sculls
4th place in the Mixed Quad Sculls (4×) at the 2026 Shanghai Rowing Open, racing for the Pinghe School crew on Suzhou Creek, a city-centre course lined with spectators.

Roles & contributions

01
New Rowing Club · 2023 - Present · Pinghe School Rowing Team since 2026
Competitive Rower
Training 6-8 hours/week. Responsible for split tracking, video analysis, and race-day preparation. Competed across 4 international championships.
03 · Discipline

Debate

British Parliamentary & World Scholar's Cup · 5+ years · 10+ hrs/week training

01
CISDAC Open Division
Team Champion
Won the CISDAC Open Division as Team Champion, competing against senior students from international schools across China.
02
World Scholar's Cup · Yale Global Rounds
Yale Global Rounds · Qualified & Competed
Qualified and competed at the Yale Global Rounds, the championship final of the World Scholar's Cup. Earned the spot through the Regional (Shanghai) and National (Xiamen) qualifiers.
03
World Scholar's Cup · Team Debate · Yale Global Rounds
Gold & Silver · Team Debate
Gold and silver medals in Team Debate at the WSC Yale Global Rounds, after qualifying through Regional (Shanghai) and National (Xiamen), argued across science, social studies, arts, and current affairs.
04
World Scholar's Cup · Collaborative Writing & Scholar's Challenge · Yale Global Rounds
Gold & Silver · Writing & Scholar's Challenge
Gold and silver medals in Collaborative Writing and the Scholar's Challenge at the Yale Global Rounds: precision writing and knowledge across five disciplines.
05
SIDO · Shanghai International Debate Open
3× Competitor: 2024, 2025, 2026
Competed in the Shanghai International Debate Open across three consecutive years (2024, 2025, 2026). British Parliamentary format, consistent participation in one of Shanghai's premier debate competitions.
06
GDC 2026 · GuangDong Debate Championships
5/6 Qualification Rounds Won
Won 5 out of 6 qualification rounds at the GuangDong Debate Championships 2026, one of the strongest individual round records at this international BP invitational. Multiple gold medals across competition rounds.
07
Shanghai IT 2026 · Schools Division · May 2026
U14 Best Speaker · Schools Outrounds Finalist
Awarded U14 Best Speaker across the full Schools field, the individual speaker recognition across all preliminary rounds. The team also broke and reached Schools outrounds, competing deep into the elimination bracket.
08
Public Forum · Tournament of Champions · 2022
TOC Octofinals
Qualified and reached the Octofinals at the Tournament of Champions (TOC) in Public Forum debate, one of the most competitive high-school debate tournaments in North America.
04 · Discipline

Academics

Grade 9 · Shanghai Pinghe · Bilingual Chinese / English · Standardised testing

01
MAP Assessment · Reading
95th Percentile · RIT 243
Scored in the ~95th percentile on MAP Reading (RIT 243), +27 above grade norm. Literary Text: High · Vocabulary: High · Informational: High. Lexile 1420L-1570L.
02
MAP Assessment · Language Usage
98th Percentile
RIT score of 248, placing at the 98th percentile, +34 points above grade norm. Writing: High · Mechanics: High · Grammar: High.
03
TOEFL Junior · 2024
855 / 900
Scored 855 out of 900 on TOEFL Junior, Grade 6 level, no specialised prep. Demonstrates native-level English proficiency.
04
Duolingo English Test · 2026
140 / 160
Scored 140 out of 160 on the Duolingo English Test, placing in the top 10% globally. CEFR C2 Proficient. Equivalent to IELTS 8.0+ and TOEFL iBT 115+.
05
TOEFL · July 2026
TOEFL 110 / 120
Scored 110 out of 120 on the TOEFL in July 2026 (5.5 on the new TOEFL band scale) with no previous training.
05 · Discipline

Leadership

ASDAN · Odyssey of the Mind · ICW · School · Civic

01
World Youth Economic Forum · Aug 2026 · Global Junior Division Finals
Bronze Award · 3 Category Awards
Reached the Global Junior Division Finals and took Bronze, plus Master in Business Insights, Best Entrepreneurship, and People's Choice.
02
World Youth Economic Forum · Asia Business Challenge · Aug 2026
Team Silver · Best Individual Presenter
2nd place (Team Silver) and Best Individual Presenter at the Asia Business Challenge (ABC) within the World Youth Economic Forum, competing against school teams across Asia in business strategy, economics, and presentation.
03
ASDAN · Multi-Forum Qualification
World Youth Economic Forum · Harvard Business Challenge · Financial Intelligence All-Star Forum
Qualified for three prestigious forums via ASDAN performance: World Youth Economic Forum, Harvard Business Challenge, and the ASDAN Financial Intelligence All-Star Forum.
04
World Odyssey of the Mind · International · 2019
International Gold Medal
International Gold Medal at the World Odyssey of the Mind competition (2019), a creative problem-solving championship requiring engineering, performance, and spontaneous thinking. Competed at the global level.
05
ICW International Creative Writing · 2020
International Silver Medal
Silver Medal at the ICW International competition (2020), cross-disciplinary early competition background that established the foundation for engineering, debate, and analytical thinking.

Roles & contributions

01
SMIC Private School · Primary School
School Captain · Red Star Award · English Week Chair
Served as School Captain (Primary School), leading school-wide events and representing the student body. Received the Red Star Award, school's highest recognition. Chaired and emceed English Week, organising inter-class competitions and public speaking events.
02
Pudong District Children's Congress · Shanghai
Elected Delegate
Elected delegate to the Pudong District Children's Congress, Shanghai's youth civic forum. Represented SMIC students in cross-school policy discussions on education and community affairs.