EN-US 
ZH 
As the AI revolution continued to transform the semiconductor industry, talent cultivation on campus evolved from simply learning AI to applying AI technologies to solve real-world industrial challenges. Yuan Ze University's Ardentec Semiconductor Academy recently hosted its inaugural AI Agent Competition, attracting interdisciplinary teams from the College of Electrical and Communication Engineering, College of Informatics, College of Engineering, and College of Management.
Participants developed AI Agent solutions addressing semiconductor industry challenges such as sentiment analysis, ESG reporting, knowledge management, yield analysis, and equipment failure prediction. Following the final competition, five teams proceeded to discuss internship and industry-academia collaboration opportunities, demonstrating how the competition became a new platform connecting students with industry.
According to Tian-Long Sun, Director of the Semiconductor Program at the Ardentec Semiconductor Academy at Yuan Ze University and Professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, a total of 23 teams comprising 41 students entered the preliminary round, with seven teams advancing to the finals after evaluation. Representatives from Ardentec Corporation (Ardentec), including associate vice presidents, directors, deputy directors, managers, and assistant managers, attended the event to review student proposals, observe project demonstrations, and engage directly with participants.
Tze Chi Hsu, Vice President of Yuan Ze University, stated that the university had long promoted industry-academia collaboration through its Industrial Academy and had worked closely with Ardentec to cultivate interdisciplinary talent in artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies. By bringing actual industry needs into the competition, the university encouraged students to leverage AI technologies to address real-world challenges while strengthening their innovation and problem-solving capabilities beyond technical AI knowledge.
Ko-Heng Chou, Associate Vice President of Ardentec, noted that the company had maintained a longstanding partnership with Yuan Ze University in internships and industry-academia projects. He expressed hope that diversified collaboration models would enable students to gain early exposure to industry practices, develop innovative problem-solving skills, transform creative ideas into practical industrial value, and become future talents sought by the industry.
Unlike conventional AI competitions that primarily focused on model performance or demonstrations, this competition emphasized the real-world deployment of AI Agents. Tian-Long Sun explained that the seven finalist projects addressed a variety of semiconductor-related applications, including industry sentiment analysis, ESG report analysis, knowledge management, yield analysis, and equipment failure prediction. Evaluation criteria considered not only task completion and project demonstrations but also Agent Governance (Harness) and token consumption. These measures encouraged students to think critically about the cost, management, and control of AI Agents, transforming AI from an experimental technology into a practical digital workforce solution that could be adopted by enterprises. Among the seven finalist teams, five demonstrated strong potential for further internship or industry-academia collaboration opportunities. After the competition concluded, students remained on site to exchange ideas with company executives, engaging in in-depth discussions on technology applications, industry needs, internship opportunities, and career development.
Tian-Long Sun emphasized that the Ardentec Semiconductor Academy at Yuan Ze University would continue to strengthen its talent cultivation pathway of “Competition → Talent Incubation → Internship → Industry-Academia Collaboration → Talent Recruitment.” Through active industry participation in student development and capstone projects, the academy aims to establish a collaborative ecosystem among universities, students, and enterprises. This approach will help students progress from learning AI to using AI to solve industry challenges while nurturing a new generation of professionals equipped with both artificial intelligence expertise and practical semiconductor industry knowledge.
