Professor Wang Yu from Tsinghua University: Thoughts on Education in the New Era as AI Transforms Industries
In 1950, when Alan Turing published "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" in the journal Mind, he probably never imagined that the "Turing Test" he proposed would be regarded as the origin of artificial intelligence. After more than half a century of silence, this mathematician's vision finally saw a boom.
In 2022, ChatGPT emerged out of nowhere; in 2024, DeepSeek made a stunning debut. The technological curve of AI has suddenly become steeper in the past two years, and Turing's vision from over 70 years ago now has more diverse carriers.
In this era of accelerated integration of technology and industry, AI is being carried forward by the torrent of the times. Recently, Wang Yu, the Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of the Graduate Electronic Design Contest and the Director of the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University, was interviewed by Semiconductor Industry Review. He systematically elaborated on his thoughts on the way of educating people in the new era, covering aspects such as industrial transformation, educational transformation, talent cultivation, and innovation practice.
01 Industrial Transformation: How to Change from Running Side by Side to Leading
The development of China's electronic information industry is like a winding river flowing forward.
The construction of China's electronic information industry can be traced back to the early days of the founding of New China. Take the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University as an example. Its predecessor was the Radio Engineering major separated from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1952, which marked the starting point of China's systematic cultivation of electronic engineering talents. Since then, Tsinghua University has been continuously delving into related fields such as transistor manufacturing and radar research and development.
When reviewing the development of China's electronic information industry, Wang Yu mentioned three important stages: after the 1980s, after 2000, and from 2010 to the present.
After the 1980s, with the advancement of reform and opening up, relying on the demographic dividend and low - cost advantages, China gradually established the world's largest electronics manufacturing base. The group of Tsinghua students who studied in the 1980s have now become the backbone of China's electronic information industry, especially in the chip field, where they have become important promoters of the industrial chain construction. In 2000, China entered an era of Internet development transformation, which drove the rapid development of basic network infrastructure and electronic application products. Since 2010, China's electronic information industry has entered a period of rapid development.
In Wang Yu's view, the development of the electronic information industry has its internal laws. From the perspective of technological development, it has evolved from electron tubes to transistors and now to various new types of devices, which is due to the laws of scientific development. From the perspective of industrial development, it has always revolved around the needs of people and their activities, constantly innovating in terms of infrastructure and carriers. The infrastructure has evolved from wired communication to wireless communication, and the application carriers have also developed from large household appliances such as televisions and refrigerators in the early days to mobile phones, tablets, cars, etc. now. Wang Yu pointed out that the current electronic information industrial chain is basically taking shape, and China has globally leading capabilities in engineer training. However, the current issue is how to change from the state of running side by side and catching up to leading. The key lies in whether more breakthrough - type talents with innovative capabilities and leadership skills can be cultivated.
When discussing the future picture of the electronic information industry, Wang Yu put forward quite insightful views: Digitalization is the key trend driving the development of the electronic information industry, and intelligence is an important manifestation of it. How to make various carriers more intelligent is an important direction for future industrial development. He believes that end - side applications will continue to advance, and future interaction carriers may no longer be mobile phones or tablets, but new - type terminals such as robots and robotic dogs. There is still a huge room for imagination in the way humans interact with the physical world.
02 Educational Transformation: How to Cultivate New - Type Talents in the AI Era
Now, the wave of artificial intelligence is surging forward. Artificial intelligence is a young cause and also a cause for young people.
The development of artificial intelligence has, to a certain extent, enhanced human productivity. For example, it assists in programming, greatly improving programming efficiency. Artificial intelligence has enhanced human capabilities in the virtual world, but it will surely return to the digital space in the future. With the booming development of the robot field, as the era of billions of humans coexisting with billions of robots approaches, the organizational mode behind it is worthy of in - depth consideration.
In this era of transformation, Chinese young people shoulder important missions. China's engineer training has long adopted a standardized model, but as the society's demand for talents becomes increasingly diverse, this model urgently needs to be transformed. Wang Yu believes that "for higher education, it is necessary to make full use of technologies such as AI, teach students in accordance with their aptitude, fully tap the individual talents and potential of students, and achieve personalized talent cultivation to meet the industrial development needs in the next 5 to 15 years." He further took DeepSeek as an example to illustrate that AI brings a full - stack transformation from hardware, software to algorithms and applications. Students can no longer be confined to a single field and must have a full - stack mindset.
Such industrial progress requires that talent cultivation should not be limited by traditional department and discipline divisions. At the undergraduate stage, a broad - based cultivation model should be adopted, and at the postgraduate stage, specialized cultivation should be carried out according to application - driven needs. Wang Yu mentioned that the "college system" cultivation model being promoted by Tsinghua University is a practice of this concept. So far, Tsinghua University has 15 colleges responsible for undergraduate student cultivation. Take Weiyang College as an example. When students enter the university, they do not determine their specific majors immediately. Instead, they first receive general education and then choose different directions such as microelectronics and electrical engineering according to their interests later. The early - stage curriculum emphasizes common foundations, and the majors are further divided in the upper - grade years and connected with postgraduate cultivation. This model significantly expands the cultivation and selection space for students. Compared with the fixed path of traditional departments, the college system requires students to plan their development directions more actively, putting forward higher requirements for self - learning and self - management abilities, and reflecting the educational concept of "broad - based, solid - foundation, and cross - disciplinary emphasis".
Let each student give full play to their own advantages instead of adopting exactly the same cultivation model. This is the new requirement for talent cultivation put forward by China's future development.
03 Talent Cultivation: The Graduate Electronic Design Contest is a Good Platform
When it comes to talent cultivation and innovation practice, there has always been a relatively popular competition in the field of electronic information - the Graduate Electronic Design Contest. It was initiated by Tsinghua University in 1996 and was initially just a small - scale competition. Now, it has become a national - level event covering more than 300 universities with thousands of teams participating. The contest takes addressing real needs and solving real problems as its starting point, comprehensively linking the industry and universities. On the one hand, it provides efficient enterprise connections for postgraduate students in relevant fields of electronic information, increasing their opportunities for practical experience. On the other hand, it also helps enterprises find research forces in universities and select high - quality talents. This year, there was a leadership change, and Wang Yu took over as the Secretary - General of the Organizing Committee of the Graduate Electronic Design Contest. When talking about the contest, Wang Yu sighed: Since I got in touch with the contest last year, I have deeply felt that the contest has now grown to a large scale, has far - reaching influence, and is very standardized in organization and operation. What makes him even more gratified is that the students are very enthusiastic about the contest, and the teachers are also fully committed. This atmosphere makes him extremely excited.
This contest has entered its 30th year. It has not only witnessed the rapid development of the electronic information industry but also plays a unique role in talent cultivation as an important platform connecting the industry and academia. When talking about the future development of the contest, Wang Yu introduced that the Graduate Electronic Design Contest will closely follow the industrial development trend. While maintaining the competition of basic technologies, it will pay more attention to presenting technological applications through specific carriers. This year, an optical - carried information track will be added to the contest, and elements such as artificial intelligence and robots will continue to be incorporated. It will not only examine the basic communication and perception capabilities required for digitalization but also show the application scenarios of intelligent technologies. It is hoped that through the forward - looking design of the contest topics, students will be guided to pay attention to the future development direction of the industry. Wang Yu emphasized that the contest should not only stimulate students' technological thinking but also encourage them to have creative imagination about future applications.
When talking about the practice - oriented nature of the Graduate Electronic Design Contest, Wang Yu analyzed the complementary advantages of universities and enterprises. He pointed out that universities and enterprises each have their own strengths, and this difference precisely constitutes the basis for cooperation. On the one hand, enterprises have obvious advantages in production resources such as computing power and manufacturing platforms, which are difficult for universities to match. More importantly, the actual problems faced by enterprises are closer to market demand. On the other hand, universities have obvious advantages in scientific research and talent cultivation, especially in postgraduate student cultivation, where universities' scientific research always plays a key role. Based on such differences in positioning, Professor Wang Yu emphasized that universities and enterprises should strengthen close cooperation. Regarding the complementarity of the cooperation, he further explained: "Enterprise research usually focuses on short - term goals that can be achieved within 1 - 3 years, while universities are more suitable for carrying out long - term research projects of 3 - 15 years or even longer. This complementarity in the time dimension enables the cooperation between the two sides to cover the entire innovation chain from basic research to application implementation."
The Graduate Electronic Design Contest, as an interactive engine, also provides a broad space for universities and enterprises to jointly cultivate talents and develop together.
04 Innovation Practice: Cultivating the "Courage" for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Wang Yu is not only an outstanding scholar but also an excellent entrepreneur. In 2016, he and his student Yao Song founded the AI chip company DeepScale, which was later acquired by Xilinx. In 2023, he and his doctoral student Xia Lixue founded the large - model company Wuwen Xinqiong, hoping to solve some of the challenges and problems in China's computing power field.
When talking about the direction of talent cultivation, he has always emphasized a broad foundation. On the premise of consolidating the foundation, he strengthens the interaction with the industrial circle, making students more application - oriented in the process of AI learning, application, and research. The period from 18 to 27 years old during one's studies is the most precious golden period for innovation. In Wang Yu's view, "Young people in this stage are full of vitality, dare to try, and are not afraid of failure. It is of great significance to fully stimulate their innovation ability, which will lay a foundation for their subsequent further studies and research."
When talking about the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship, Wang Yu's views are both practical and profound. "We cannot expect all postgraduate students to choose to start a business. Entrepreneurship requires multiple conditions, and it is a very difficult thing. What is important is to cultivate students' innovation awareness and the courage to break through. Whether in an entrepreneurial environment or working in a large enterprise, this kind of courage to innovate and break through is needed. This is also the core quality of talents that needs to be cultivated in the Graduate Electronic Design Contest and daily education."
As the wave of the electronic information industry surges forward, the integration of industry and education is like a "bridge": one end is connected to the real needs of the industry, and the other end leads to the future possibilities of talents; one end plunges into the deep - water area of basic research, and the other end builds a fast - lane for the collaboration of industry, academia, and research. By staying true to the original intention, when more young people with the "courage to break through" move towards the forefront of the industry, the long river of China's electronic information industry will surely surge towards a broader world in the wave of innovation.
[The Core Carvers] Issue 12: Wang Yu, the Secretary - General of the Organizing Committee of the Graduate Electronic Design Contest and the Director of the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University, is a model of the trinity of "education, research, and innovation". As the first post - 1980s department director at Tsinghua University and an IEEE Fellow, he has not only achieved breakthrough results in the field of intelligent chips but also successfully incubated industry benchmark enterprises such as DeepScale and Wuwen Xinqiong, promoting the in - depth integration of industry, academia, and research and contributing Tsinghua wisdom to the development of China's semiconductor industry.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Semiconductor Industry Review" (ID: ICViews). Author: Li Yan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.