The growth of artificial intelligence could create 58 million net new jobs in the next few years, states the World Economic Forum [1]. Yet, according to the Tencent Research Institute, it’s estimated that currently there are 300,000 AI engineers worldwide, but millions are needed [2]. As you can tell, there is a unique and immediate opportunity to develop creative experiences and introduce you—no matter what your developer skill levels are—to essential ML concepts. These experiences in fields of ML like deep learning, reinforcement learning, and so on, will expand your skills and help close the talent gap.

To help you advance your AI/ML capabilities with hands-on and fun ML learning experiences, I am thrilled to announce the AWS DeepRacer Scholarship Challenge.

What is AWS DeepRacer?

In November 2018, Jeff Barr announced the launch of AWS DeepRacer on the AWS News Blog as a new way to learn ML. With AWS DeepRacer, you have an opportunity to get hands-on with a fully autonomous 1/18th-scale race car driven by reinforcement learning, a 3D racing simulator, and a global racing league.

What is the AWS DeepRacer Scholarship Challenge?

AWS and Udacity are collaborating to educate developers of all skill levels on ML concepts. Those skills are reinforced by putting them to the test through the world’s first autonomous racing league—the AWS DeepRacer League.

Students enrolled in the AWS DeepRacer Scholarship Challenge who have the top lap times can win full scholarships to the Machine Learning Engineer nanodegree program. The Udacity Nanodegree program is a unique online educational offering designed to bridge the gap between learning and career goals.

How does the AWS DeepRacer Scholarship Challenge work?

The program begins August 1, 2019 and runs through October 31, 2019. You can join the scholarship community at any point during these three months and immediately enroll in Udacity’s specialized AWS DeepRacer course. Register now to be in pole position for the start of the race.

After enrollment, you go through the AWS DeepRacer course, which consists of short, step-by-step modules (90 minutes in total). The modules prepare you to create, train, and fine-tune a reinforcement learning model in the AWS DeepRacer 3D racing simulator. Throughout the program and during each race, you have access to a custom scholarship student community to get pro tips from experts and exchange ideas with your classmates.

Each month, you can pit your skills against others in virtual races in the AWS DeepRacer console. Students compete for top spots in each month’s unique race course. Students that record the top lap times in August, September, and October 2019 qualify for one of 200 full scholarships to the Udacity Machine Learning Engineer nanodegree program, sponsored by Udacity.

Next steps

To get notified about the scholarship program and enrollment dates, register now. For a program FAQ, see AWS DeepRacer Scholarship Challenge.

Developers, start your engines! The first challenge starts August 1, 2019!

[1] Artificial Intelligence To Create 58 Million New Jobs By 2022, Says Report (Forbes)

[2] Tencent says there are only 300,000 AI engineers worldwide, but millions are needed (The Verge)

About the Author

Tara Shankar Jana is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for AWS Machine Learning. Currently he is working on building unique and scalable educational offerings for the aspiring ML developer communities- to help them expand their skills on ML. Outside of work he loves reading books, travelling and spending time with his family.