Shanghai Jiao Tong University launched the inaugural national "AI and energy" technological innovation competition for college students on Aug 28. It’s the first student competition in China dedicated to the integration of artificial intelligence and energy.

Designed to contribute to the country's digital development strategy, the ompetition builds an innovation platform that connects industry, academia, research, and application. It seeks to inspire student creativity while advancing the green energy transition and promoting intelligent industrial development.

In response to the growing demand for talent in both energy and AI, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, together with Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Tianjin University, and Dalian University of Technology, issued a joint initiative for the extracurricular technological innovation competition during an academic seminar held at SJTU on May 24 this year.

The competition aims to identify and cultivate interdisciplinary talent who possess innovative thinking, strong AI application skills, and a solid foundation in energy.

The competition features two tracks: AI for Energy Science and AI for Energy Engineering and Application.

The first track encourages students to explore cutting-edge technologies, advance the boundaries of traditional energy research, and explore new AI-driven models, methods, and paradigms for complex energy systems, supporting the pursuit of high-level energy technology innovation.

The second track focuses on real-world energy needs, encouraging students to apply AI in solving practical engineering problems across energy production, transmission, storage, consumption, and management. It aims to propose new business models, services, and formats powered by AI to drive industrial transformation in the energy sector.

Covering the entire chain from basic research to technology development and engineering demonstration, the competition offers winners the opportunity to receive enterprise support to turn their innovations into practical applications.

Leading energy companies have already expressed their interest in incubating promising projects and recruiting top participants. During the final round, participants will take part in an on-site problem-solving session, allowing judges to assess their AI proficiency and practical application skills. Performance in this session will be a key factor in expert scoring.

The competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students from universities nationwide. Registration runs from Sept 10 to Oct 18. Teams can register through the official website at https://aienergy.sjtu.edu.cn

Source: Shanghai Observer