AI design competition supports microchip workforce
Winning team AI or Die accept a $5,000 check from Nvidia.
Students put their engineering skills to the test at the first-ever Artificial Intelligence Hardware Design League (AI-HDL) competition at the University of Arizona. The event brought together students from community colleges, academic institutions worldwide, and industry leaders.
“Everyone in the Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing is thrilled to see the first student finalists in the AI-HDL finish up their designs, and we’re impressed with what they have accomplished,” said MSE professor Krishna Muralidharan, incoming director for the U of A center.
Soheil Salehi, founder of AI-HDL and assistant professor of ECE, said workforce development is key given that Arizona is attracting chip manufacturers such as Intel and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
“There are so many job opportunities, but few candidates who would pursue those positions," Salehi said. “The goal is to bring in students who think entry into this area has a high barrier and show them it doesn’t."
In addition to the University of Arizona, students from Pima Community College and Pasadena City College competed. The competition’s virtual component broadened access for international teams, including students from the University of New South Wales Sydney in Australia, Hanoi University of Science and Technology and VNU University of Engineering and Technology in Vietnam, Digital University Kerala in India and Heidelberg University in Germany.
Out of the 172 participants, roughly 72% started with no experience in hardware design and nearly 47% had no prior experience using generative AI tools.