Leading digital solutions platform Globe recently collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host the inter-university AWS DeepRacer League for young and aspiring data and analytics professionals interested in gaining valuable machine learning (ML) skills. The race was open to participants with no prior knowledge of ML, or who wanted to experiment with it for the first time in a fun and exciting way.

The event brought together 19 teams from five universities: Bulacan State University, De La Salle University, Mapua University, University of Santo Tomas, and the University of the Philippines.

AWS DeepRacer is a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car driven by reinforcement learning (RL) – an advanced ML technique – and a 3D racing simulator. The AWS DeepRacer League enables students from universities to explore and learn about ML in a new way, as they train and race the AWS DeepRacer autonomous vehicles, either on a physical track or on a 3D virtual racing simulator.

Event highlights included a virtual and physical race, a thrilling experience for the students as they applied experimentation, programming, and out-of-the-box thinking.

Virtual Race champions Team Turing Racing from University of the Philippines, Diliman. Left to right: Dan Natindim, Globe Enterprise Data Office (EDO) VP; Team Turing Racing members Rossjyn Fallorina, Emmanuel Maminta and Nikko Carlo Yabut; Von Ryan Manalastas, AWS Account Manager; and Derick Aditl, Head Globe EDO Strategy Execution Office.

The winning team, Turing Racing from the University of the Philippines Diliman, demonstrated exceptional skills and expertise in reinforcement learning, completing the virtual racetrack in an impressive 13.009 seconds. First Runner-Up was Cardinal

Dynamics from Mapua University with a time of 13.884 seconds, while the second Runner-Up was veloECEty from University of Santo Tomas with 15.460 seconds.

The physical race winners were Velasconatics from the University of the Philippines who completed the race in 9.9 seconds, followed by UPRISE Racer from Bulacan State University with a race time of 12.65 seconds, and CARS from De La Salle University with 22.86 seconds.

"Part of our purpose is to bring ML and AI technology to students and spark innovation. I’m glad to see a showcase of machine learning skills from young and brilliant minds from different universities," said Dan Natindim, Vice President of Globe Enterprise Data Office.

Since 2018, Globe’s Enterprise Data Office has organized annual learning events such as the Globe Analytics Week to enable Globe and its partners to become data-driven organizations. The Inter-University AWS DeepRacer League was part of the latest Analytics Week, which carried the theme “Data Unleashed: Accelerating the Digital Agenda.”

“We believe that in the near future, virtually every application will be infused with machine learning and artificial intelligence,” said Stephen Thomas Misa, Country Head, AWS Philippines. “We are proud to collaborate with Globe in hosting the AWS DeepRacer League in the Philippines. Together, we are offering students the opportunity to learn new skills in advanced cloud technology. Helping the youth build critical skills for a more diverse and future-ready workforce will help power the Filipino economy.”

Globe is expanding its university partnerships and create a community for students who are interested in data, AI, and technology. Interested students and fresh graduates can join Globe's future events by visiting https://www.facebook.com/groups/dataandanalyticscommunity.

To learn more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.