Abstract: National Zhou Peiyuan Competition on Mechanics for college students has been initiated and sponsored by the Editorial Committee of Mechanics in Engineering. After the development for more than 30 years, it has been successfully held for 12 sessions and has provided a platform to show the teaching level of the universities. On the 40th Anniversary of Mechanics in Engineering, this paper reviews the development and organizational mode of National Zhou Peiyuan Competition on Mechanics. The number of attendees and innovations of each session are summarized, and the role of the competition in mechanics teaching and personnel training are illustrated through cases study.