TSMC Pioneers Cross-field Collaboration with Microsoft Taiwan to Hold “Careerhack” Competition
Focusing on the Trend of Digital Transformation, the Two Companies Join Forces to Cultivate Next-generation IT Talents
Talent development is one of TSMC's sustainable goals. Under the trend of globalization and digital transformation, demand for IT talents are rising in many industries. To expand and strengthen the resource of new information technology talent, and also attract more outstanding IT talents to join the semiconductor industry, TSMC and Microsoft Taiwan first time jointly organized the “Careerhack” competition in 2020, which encouraged students to demonstrate their IT skills and expertise. In 2021, the event has attracted 955 students from 69 colleges in 10 countries to participate, almost 100 more participants as compared with the 1st Careerhack a year ago. The first- and second-place teams would get job interview or internship opportunities, forming a seamless connection between industry and academia.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated global digital transformation, and many companies are actively using different types of information technologies to change their business models, optimize operational processes, and enhance competitiveness. This year's Careerhack competition focused on key technologies such as Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), mixed reality, and intelligent assistants, allowing students to showcase their skills, gain practical experience, and prepare for their future careers.
There are three major goals we set out for this year’s Careerhack: First, empowering the participating students to connect with world leading companies. Second, raising their tech intensity and enhancing their technical capabilities through workshops and digital tools, while showcasing their innovation and creativity. And lastly, fostering a deeper sense of a growth mindset, gaining unique experience through learning from and working with cross-disciplinary partners and teachers.
Design with Open-ended Questions to Inspire More Creative Applications and Solutions
Under the key theme of "Digital Transformation," the 2nd Careerhack was designed with competition in three categories: Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), Mixed Reality (MR), and AI Chatbot. The 1st Careerhack adopted the questions with standard answers, while this year’s competition adopted the open questions to encourage students to unleash their creativity and technology innovation. The organizer also provided software and hardware platforms such as cloud, Internet of Things equipment, and mixed reality devices during the competition, allowing students to work on the most in-demand technologies and achieve more inspirations to create innovative applications to address the real industry challenges.
Continuously Upgraded "Careerhack"
| 1st Careerhack Competition | 2nd Careerhack Competition | |
|---|---|---|
| Competition System and Format | Individual registration and random grouping | Group registration |
| Key Theme | Artificial Intelligent, AI | Digital Transformation |
| Covered Fields |
|
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| Number of Applicants | 852 | 955 |
| Number of Finalists | 92 | 101 |
| Competition Schedule |
|
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| Award Bonus | NT$300,000 | NT$300,000 |
Moving Competition Online Due to COVID-19 Pandemic Became the Best Demonstration of Digital Transformation
The 2nd Careerhack moved online due to COVID-19 pandemic, providing students with cloud platforms to develop and changing the contest venue into a studio within 3 days. Using cloud and video tools and applications, 101 finalists in 27 teams were able to work together simultaneously and remotely, and the final presentations were published in a live broadcast. All things made this online competition the best demonstration of digital transformation.
Winners of 2nd Careerhack
| Field of Contest | Award | Team | Name of Final Work | Innovation or Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence of Things（AIoT） | Champion | TASK National Cheng Kung University | The Energy Saving Program for Clean Room | Based on the results of monitoring the clean room information including the temperature inside / outside, humidity, CO2, power consumption, and cost, to develop an optimized algorithm to automatically adjust ice storage cooling system and achieve the goal of energy saving |
| Runner-up | YACC National Tsing Hua University National Central University | Defect Detection | By automatically collecting wafer image dataset, to build up TinyML models, enhance the accuracy of wafer defect detection, and clearly identify the defect position | |
| Mixed Reality（MR） | Champion | 2+1 National Taiwan University of Science and Technology National Cheng Kung University | You Made Eat | Using MR technology to visualize ordering system which let the meals show right in front of the customers without changing their aspect ratio. Leveraging “eye tracking” to monitor the length of time that customers linger on the menu, and hence to recommend meals, which can avoid direct service interaction with customers during the pandemic |
| Runner-up | Unicode Studio National Taiwan University of Science and Technology | MR-assisted Restaurant | Using HoloLens 2 to build up a virtual restaurant which provides seat indicators to let customers sit by themselves, visualizing models of meals, the ordering system, and the progress of ordered meals | |
| AI Chatbot | Champion | Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing National Taiwan University | AI Pandemic-prevention Chatbot | Providing the information of COVID-19 and consultation service by using AI pandemic-prevention Chatbot to help users get the answers to their questions more quickly |
| Runner-up | Happy Partners National Taiwan University National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | ARTificial Intelligence | Avoid visiting art museums in person due to the Pandemic. Through ARTificial Intelligence, people can take any pictures in their daily lives and search similar masterpieces and retrieve their information |
TSMC is committed to improving the quality and competitiveness of professional talent. Through collaboration with Microsoft Taiwan to organize the Careerhack, we are trying to increase students’ motivation and broaden their perspectives on information technology. Moreover, the winners and participating teams will also get interview opportunities for full-time jobs or internships, which will help to cultivate more outstanding talents for the industry.
I began to study computer vision, deep learning, web service platform and other technologies from postgraduate school. However, I didn’t realize the gap between theory and practical applications until I participated in the Careerhack competition, such as how to design an interface that met users’ needs, the importance of teamwork, and the handling of different urgent issues. Thanks TSMC for providing such a great opportunity to broaden our horizons and truly connect with the industry.
Given the context of our hackathon topic was in a restaurant, we hoped to make a product that met the actual customer need. Therefore, we designed a customized food ordering system that can visualize the amount of food. We were glad to learn the latest technologies and how they’re used in real workplace, and achieve a deeper understanding about the field of mixed reality!
We learned many new technologies and teamwork skills through participating in the workshops and competitions. Even if our team did not get the prize, we have grown a lot during the hackathon. Thanks TSMC and Microsoft Taiwan for providing us great opportunities, resources, and support.
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