Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, control engineering and automation are the fields of study that are welcomed by member schools of the University of Da Nang (UDN) in a bid to meet the 4.0 technology trend. These schools have taken the initiative to connect and cooperate with many large corporations and enterprises at home and abroad, and improve the quality of lecturers, in order to open artificial intelligence training majors, especially in the university enrollment season 2023.

The Viet Nam - Korea Information Technology and Communications University (VKU) - the University of Da Nang - signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with the NiX Education Joint Stock Company (NiXEducation) and Japan's NecScat Joint Stock Company. Photo: NGOC HA

Shaking hands with hi-tech enterprises

Over the past time, universities across Da Nang have promoted cooperation with businesses involved in the high-tech field to take advantage of support for modern equipment in a bid to train artificial intelligence majors.

Most recently, the University of Science and Technology under the University of Da Nang has signed a cooperation agreement with the ABB Vietnam Company.

Under the deal, ABB will support the development of the demo Robot Station for sake of teaching, learning and research, as well as deploy Robot Studio software, including 1 server and 100 client computers, to help students increase opportunities for practice and scientific research.

Additionally, ABB will send its experts to support school to guide students in practice and experiments, and share knowledge, technology and experience in designing and manufacturing robots as well.

At the same time, the firm will grant scholarships and accept interns involved in related engineering majors.

Similarly, the Viet Nam - Korea Information Technology and Communications University (VKU) has just signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with the NiX Education JSC (NiXEducation) and Japan’s NecScat JSC (Japan).

Accordingly, the NecScat JSC will support the school in implementing a research lab project related to creative design on the basis of artificial intelligence (Genertive Design AI) - a fairly new field.

The cooperation between VKU and NiXEducation and NecSacat is a good opportunity for university students to research and develop projects on AI and access new technologies.

According to enterprises, the signing of cooperation will help schools shorten the gap between theory and modern production environment.

“ABB wishes to bring more learning opportunities and best experiences for students of the University of Science and Technology, especially in the fields of robotics, control and automation”, said Mr. Huynh Phong Phu, Director of the ABB Robotics and Automation Department noted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Moriura Takayuki, Sales Director of NecScat JSC, said that the cooperation in supporting IT human resource training at universities is also an opportunity to find high-quality human resources. Currently, NecScat JSC is recruiting students for VKU's Japanese Software Engineering class.

Towards AI human resources

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Vice Rector of University of Science and Technology, as for the implementation of bachelor's degree programmes in engineering or engineer training (180 credits, equivalent to a practical master's), faculties have pioneered to introduce intelligent robot manufacturing into training programmes such as Mechatronics major (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), and Control Engineering and Automation (Faculty of Electrical Engineering), as well as train majors related to AI. This is the direction in line with the current trend when the application of 4.0 technology is growing strongly, and job positions are increasingly associated with the development of smart products, systems, utilities, and smart city creation.

Meanwhile, in the university enrollment season in 2023, the member schools of the University of Da Nang continue to recruit students for AI-related careers.

According to Dr. Nguyen Linh Nam, Vice Rector of the University of Technical Education, in order to prepare for the opening of the Robotics and artificial intelligence majors, the school has built a project to open the major with a core team of 11 teachers, including 9 PhDs from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Digital Technology, all graduated from developed countries such as France, Germany, and Taiwan.

In terms of facilities, the University of Technical Education currently has 2 Mechatronics laboratories, and a Embedded Systems and Microcontrollers laboratory, all capable of serving new majors.

In addition, in order to serve the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and core technologies, from 2021, the university has been implementing two key projects. They are the VND10 billion Digital Transformation Research and Training Department project which has been put into operation, and an ODA-funded project to build a VND32 billion Dynamic and Automated Production laboratory which is expected to be completed by 2025.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Cong Phap, President of VKU also said that in 2023, the university will enroll 60 students in Artificial Intelligence major. This is considered a hot industry in the current digital era.

In order to meet the requirements of opening the AI major, in addition to the synchronously invested infrastructure system funded by the Vietnamese and South Korean governments, VKU currently has a strong teaching staff with more than 10 PhDs with in-depth research in the field of AI.

Furthermore, VKU continues to expand cooperation with many domestic and foreign business partners through cooperation agreements, building research labs and developing research projects on applying AI and new technologies.

Reporting by NGOC HA - Translating by M.DUNG