The name list of 2008 Top Ten Chinese University Student Personalities was unveiled on April 29, 2009. Hu Kai, SEM's current postgraduate, was among the honorees.

On August 21, Chinese team gained a place of the Men's 4x100 Relay Final by clocking 39.13 seconds. This was the first time for Chinese team to reach final on this event. The athlete who dashed across the finish line and set a new record for the Chinese team was Hu Kai, currently a postgraduate at Tsinghua SEM, who's known as "the bespectacled flyer".

（"The bespectacled flyer" Hu Kai in the competition, August 21, 2008 ）

The Award Ceremony for 2008 Top Ten Chinese University Student Personalities was held at the Great Hall of the People, attended by reporters, faculty and students from the community of higher education in Beijing as well as representatives from China's Ministry of Education, Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, People's Daily, Information Office of the State Council, and Publicity Department of Beijing Government.

(Hu Kai (third from the right) with other winners of the 2008Top Ten Chinese University Student Personalities)

The selection of 2008 Top Ten Chinese University Student Personalities was formally launched in the end of October, 2008, participated by nearly 1000 institutions of higher education from 30 provinces or regions around China. The Top Ten Chinese University Student Personalities was launched as an annual event in 2005, with participation number hitting over 30 million during past three years.