On July 15, with the closing ceremony successfully held at Northwestern Polytechnical University’s (NPU) Youyi Campus, the 10-day 4th 2025 Future AI Masters International Summer Camp officially came to an end. Gathering outstanding talents passionate about artificial intelligence from home and abroad, the camp featured a unique model of "professional course learning + corporate practice + cultural experience + project collaboration". It built a broad platform for participants to explore cutting-edge AI technologies and exchange innovative ideas, leaving a brilliant mark in the field of AI talent cultivation and academic exchanges.

Camp Opening: Gather at NPU for an AI Journey

    On July 6, Youyi Campus welcomed the camp opening day. Campers from different countries and regions, filled with curiosity and longing for AI, completed registration, received camp uniforms and name tags, and officially embarked on this AI exploration journey. The atmosphere on the first day was relaxed and full of anticipation. As campers familiarized themselves with the environment and made new friends, a sense of belonging to the camp quietly took root, laying a solid foundation for in-depth exchanges and cooperation thereafter.

Professional Deep Dive: Courses and Practice Lay a Solid Foundation in AI Knowledge

    On July 7, in the Lecture Hall of the School of Computer Science at Chang’an Campus, Professor Liu Zhaowen from the School of Computer Science delivered the first lecture titled The Stroke of Silicon: The Technical Framework of the DeepSeek Intelligent System. In the lecture, Professor Liu shared important insights into the field of artificial intelligence, including the development history of AI and the breakthrough technologies behind the DeepSeek framework. Through her professional explanation, she opened the door to AI learning for the campers and led them in exploring the latest developments in the AI field. Throughout the lecture, real cases and interactions went hand in hand, making complex knowledge clear and tangible under Professor Liu’s vivid interpretation. Campers actively thought and discussed enthusiastically, continuously enriching their AI knowledge system. In the afternoon, the campers visited the campus environment of Chang’an Campus and took photos at various landmarks to record this wonderful experience.

    The next day, the opening ceremony of this camp was officially held at Chang’an Campus. Dressed in neat and unified camp uniforms, the campers listened attentively to the schedule arrangements and precautions of the camp, sketching a basic framework for their subsequent study and life. In the afternoon, the interesting campus treasure hunt activity officially kicked off. Various landmarks on Chang’an Campus became "treasure hiding spots". Divided into groups, the campers shuttled between teaching buildings and campus landscapes. While searching for clues and solving puzzles, they familiarized themselves with the campus environment and accelerated their understanding of each other. Through competition and collaboration, the campers broke down barriers of unfamiliarity, and team tacit understanding quietly developed, laying the groundwork for subsequent exchanges and cooperation.

    On July 9, the itinerary included a corporate visit. The campers stepped out of the campus and entered AI technology enterprises. In the "On-the-spot Teaching" session, they observed up close how AI technology empowers industries. By communicating with technical backbones of the enterprises, the campers discussed issues related to technical implementation difficulties and industry development trends. This not only broadened their horizons but also accurately connected classroom learning with industry needs, clarifying the practical direction of AI learning.

Exchange and Mutual Learning: Broaden the Dimensions of Growth

    From July 10 to 11, professional courses at Youyi Campus continued to deepen the depth of knowledge. Associate Professor Sun Peng, Professor Pan Yongsheng, and Associate Professor Li Xiaoan not only led the campers to decode the underlying logic of artificial intelligence from scratch, helping them grasp basic AI concepts and core technologies, but also focused on cutting-edge AI research trends, allowing the campers to touch the forefront of the industry. Among them, Professor Pan focused on the content of Generation Techniques in Medical Imaging, explaining the technology of synthesizing medical images using AI algorithms and analyzing the principles in a simple and understandable way. Professor Li focused on the novel topic of embodied intelligence, starting from the concept, explaining how embodied intelligence, as an intelligent form integrating physical entities and environmental interaction, breaks through the limitations of traditional AI, and analyzing its unique advantages in perception and decision-making. In interactive discussions, campers put forward implementation ideas from the application perspective and explored theoretical breakthroughs from the academic research level. Cross-perspective exchanges made knowledge understanding more three-dimensional, and in the collision of ideas, the understanding of cutting-edge technologies was deepened.

Cultural Integration: Experience Diversity and Broaden International Horizons

    On July 12, the cultural experience activity officially kicked off a journey through time. The campers went to the Terracotta Army, stared at the millennium-old terracotta warrior formation, listened to historical explanations, and felt the shock of ancient military and art. Subsequently, everyone made their own exclusive "terracotta warriors" by hand. From shaping to painting, they personally reproduced the charm of cultural relics, making historical culture vivid through practice. As night fell, Datang Everbright City was illuminated with lights. Tang-style buildings blended with modern light and shadow. The campers wandered around, immersively experiencing the grandeur of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Along the way, they enjoyed poetry, performances, and markets, appreciating the fashionable expression of excellent traditional Chinese culture. In the dialogue between ancient and modern times, their understanding of Chinese culture was deepened, and cross-cultural exchanges were enriched with more diverse communication materials and emotional resonance due to this unique experience.

Project Tackling: Teamwork Shows the Power of Innovation

    From July 13 to 14, project cooperation became the "practical stage" of the summer camp. In the "Project Cooperation" phase, campers formed teams freely or divided tasks according to their interests, launching brainstorming and collaborative tackling around AI application innovation topics. Every step from demand analysis, scheme design to model building and test optimization embodied the wisdom of the team.

    At 2 pm on July 13, a special lecture titled "Career Planning Guide in the Age of AI Great Navigation" tailored for campers was wonderfully held in the Second Lecture Hall of the Alumni Association at Youyi Campus. The lecture invited Cai Peng, person in charge of talent services at Xi’an Software Park, as the speaker, to analyze career opportunities and growth paths under the AI wave.

    As a senior expert in the field of high-tech industry development and talent demand analysis, Cai Peng combined cutting-edge industry trends, focusing on core content such as career trends and ability requirements in the AI era, and tailored explanations for campers on how to clarify goals and plan directions in a rapidly changing environment. Campers actively participated in interactions, drew inspiration from exchanges with experts, and added a key stroke to their career blueprints.

    In the "group project presentation and evaluation session" on the afternoon of July 14, each team took turns to take the stage to showcase their project results. Some focused on "A True Prime Number", while others explored "How Searching and Sorting Powers Our Favorite Apps", analyzing various issues and prospects of AI development from different perspectives.

    Evaluation experts gave professional comments from the dimensions of technical innovation, application value, and team collaboration, affirming the results while putting forward optimization suggestions. These projects not only demonstrated the campers’ solid ability to apply knowledge but also highlighted the power of innovative thinking and teamwork. Many ideas have the potential for further incubation and transformation into practical applications, becoming brilliant achievements of this summer camp in AI practical innovation.

    Closing Ceremony: Harvest Growth and Look Forward to the Future of AI

    At the closing ceremony on July 15, Professor Cui Helei, Assistant to the Dean of the School of Computer Science, attended online and delivered a speech to all campers. At the ceremony, the winning teams of the ice-breaking activity, the excellent groups of the project presentation, and the winning teams of the badminton competition were all commended.

    Looking back on the 10-day journey, this summer camp achieved fruitful results. At the knowledge level, campers systematically learned cutting-edge AI theories and technologies, made up for knowledge gaps, and built a more complete knowledge system. From a practical perspective, corporate visits and project cooperation turned theories into practice, exercising the campers’ practical operation ability and innovative application thinking. At the exchange level, the gathering of international campers realized cultural and academic exchanges, building a cross-border AI exchange network.

    This camp not only provides a learning and exchange platform for students who love AI but also focuses on the future development of the AI industry, committed to cultivating compound talents with professional literacy, innovative ability, and international perspective. As artificial intelligence continues to profoundly change the world, these "seeds of future AI masters" emerging from the summer camp are expected to grow into the backbone of promoting AI technological breakthroughs and industrial innovation in the future, injecting youthful momentum cultivated by NPU into global AI development. And NPU will continue to stride forward in the journey of AI talent training and international exchanges and cooperation, writing a new chapter in nurturing scientific and technological innovation and empowering industrial development!