ICT is reconstructing the world in countless new ways. Industry education collaboration is essential to cultivate the talent needed to keep up with these major transformations, especially the talent of AI. The Faculty of Automation Engineering at the China University of Electronics Science and Technology (UESTC) joined forces with Huawei to burn the path of AI talent cultivation.
UESTC and Huawei employ a 3-in-1 approach that integrates curriculum development, course collaboration and competitive engagement. This comprehensive approach covers all kinds of educational resources, from entry-level experiments to competition, from theoretical courses to open source educational materials. The UESTC and Huawei collaboration model ensures educational resources are practical to meet industry needs. The unique advantages of the model in AI talent cultivation allow for both innovative thinking and practical skills. The partnership between UESTC and Huawei will stimulate industry growth and help lay the foundation for ongoing breakthroughs in AI technology.
In-depth course collaboration: ignite student enthusiasm for learning
UESTC – Huawei collaboration is within the scope of the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) University Industrial Cooperation Education Program. UESTC's Automation Engineering School and Huawei worked closely to develop a machine learning premier course that organizes highly refined, abstract theoretical knowledge into the course.
Considering diversity among students in terms of subject proficiency and understanding, the school used Huawei's developer kit to develop an upward AI remote inference cluster and an AI experimental system for beginners (see Figure 1). This approach addresses challenges previously encountered by schools, such as the lack of original system devices, technology complexity, and high-disciplinary entry barriers.
Figure 1: Students exploring AI applications using AI experimental systems
The UESTC lab environment provides a path that connects the AI world with the students, even for students with no knowledge of AI subjects. Students will be given the opportunity to stand out and experience AI and to gain a deeper understanding of AI applications, such as image style transformation, target detection, and target recognition. The experimental system intrigues students for further exploration and learning, integrating theoretical knowledge.
Built on ASCend AI, this holistic platform enables an educational model that covers a complete pipeline of AI development and a variety of aspects of the fundamentals of AI. The platform was exhibited at the MOE's 10th Best Case Exhibition of University Industrial Collaborative Education Program. It won the praise as one of the best cases to celebrate the 10th year of the University Industrial Cooperation Education Program, and was awarded the Huawei Excellent Achievement Award.
With the aim of stimulating interest in AI, the school has integrated Huawei's full-stack all-senario AI solutions into courses such as artificial intelligence and embedded system design using an intelligent base jointly built by MoE and Huawei. Students conducted extensive research and experiments for the final assignment, gaining a lot of practical expertise. On 16 separate occasions, school teachers are invited to share their experiences in industry education collaboration at conferences such as the University Industrial Cooperation Education Programme conference. These presentations have been highly appreciated. It is worth mentioning Hao Jiasheng, who won awards such as Huawei Ascend expert, outstanding campus ambassador (Best Advocate), and Best Huawei Developer Advocate for Contributing. He was also named a distinguished teacher in the Moe -Huawei Intelligent Base program in 2022.
Curriculum Innovation: Infuse the Power of Independent Open Source
In addition to practical course innovation, the university collaborated with Huawei to develop textbooks Basics and Practices of Operating Systems Based on the Openeuler Platform (As shown in Figure 2). This textbook is based on a top-class course overview outlined in the UESTC – Huawei Intelligent-Based Program. By incorporating Openeuler into educational resources, we break new ground. Openeuler is the operating system (OS) that underpins the next generation of open source, homemade digital infrastructure.
Figure 2: Based on the basics and practices of the operating system
Openeuler Platform Co-developed by UESTC schools
Automation Engineering and Huawei
The easy-to-understand book is designed to adapt OS theory to the Openeuler context, enable the acquisition of cutting-edge technology and stimulate innovative thinking. The book was officially published in October 2024 and is included in the 2024 MoE -Huawei Intelligent Base's Excellent Training Materials Incentive Program.
This book aims to integrate the concepts of UNIX's elegant design with Linux practices. This philosophy underpins many of the book's chapters, intimately combining operating system fundamentals and design concepts with practical applications. It also distills theoretical knowledge into easily accessible insights for learners. Carefully selected practical examples are used to enhance students' understanding.
This textbook provides a wealth of practical examples based on the Openeuler system, gradually leading learners through modern Linux OS, from Mastery to introductions. It also explores in-depth the commonly used tools, internal mechanisms, and exceptional design ideas for Linux OS. This courseware is useful not only for undergraduate and graduate students in automation, communications engineering, electronics, and more, but also for engineers involved in embedded Linux development and server systems management and maintenance, as well as Linux OS enthusiasts. This prepares all learners for future challenges in technology development.
Competition Engagement: Create a complete circle in your talent pipeline
Entrepreneurship competition and innovation projects are a great opportunity for students to improve their practical capabilities. These activities allow students to strive for higher goals by testing their skills and solving real challenges.
The UESTC encourages students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real projects, moving from the lab to the arena to combine theory and practice. Many UESTC students participate in high-level competitions, such as the Huawei ICT competition and the China International College student innovation competition.
UESTC instructors will guide practical projects such as the Alphapose subproject of the Ascend OpenMind Project, and estimate key points and style transformation subprojects for the human body, as well as final year projects for undergraduates at university. These projects will help students to gain a deeper understanding of Huawei's full stack All-senario AI solutions and learn how to apply them. In this way, students can use Huawei Technologies to explore the application of deep learning.
Through these competitions, students have achieved amazing results. One such example is an autonomously driven algorithm verification platform based on the Ascend Software project. Through this project, student competitors have built an autonomous driving test platform. It has earned praise from industry experts for its outstanding cost-effectiveness, availability and reliability.
At the Huawei ICT competition, UESTC students demonstrated practical capabilities while deepening their understanding of Huawei's AI technology. Their innovative efforts were the grand prize in Computing Tracks and the second prize in Ascend AI Tracks at the Huawei ICT Competition 2023–2024 Global Finals (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: The UESTC team won the Grand Prize for Computing Track (left) and the Second Prize for Ascend AI Track (right) at the practice competition at the Huawei ICT Competition 2023–2024 Global Finals
The tireless pursuit of innovation in education creates a complete talent pipeline that benefits institutions and students in one or more ways as well. Many UESTC students have earned honors through this process and have achieved real results since academia. Many alumni and undergraduate students were recommended to exempt graduate and doctoral entry tests at top universities in China, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Huazun University University of Science and Technology. Additionally, many students continued their further research at internationally renowned universities, such as the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Lund University in Sweden, and Texas A&M University. Some students received offers from major companies such as DJI and Li Auto before completing their graduate studies. Two graduate students who participated in the Huawei AscendAI competition and the Huawei ICT competition have been hired by Huawei.
Cultivating AI talent requires joint efforts by universities, businesses and society. The UESTC and Huawei collaboration is a benchmark for AI talent cultivation at universities, infusing vitality into a broader academic ecosystem. UESTC will continue to work closely with Huawei to explore new paths for industry education collaboration. We circulate our efforts on innovation and practical applications to help students become innovators and creators. This transforms them into the dynamic force of science and technology advancement. We focus on our efforts in industry education collaboration, working to cultivate a vibrant pipeline of outstanding talent in the AI era.
