Between 26-30 January, the Loughborough campus was transformed into a hub of creativity and technical problem-solving. The AI Challenge Camp, led by Professor Diwei Zhou, brought together a diverse cohort of undergraduates from a range of disciplines, working alongside PhD researchers to tackle real-world data science problems.
Designed to diversify the AI talent pipeline, the camp provided a supportive environment where students of all experience levels could explore the transformative potential of technology, learning to bridge the gap between complex datasets and human-centred solutions.
Throughout the week, four teams, each mentored by a PhD researcher, were tasked with a unique challenge set by industry and academic partners to bring technical concepts into practical and scalable applications.
The winning challenge, titled ‘Automating Healthcare Onboarding’, was set by These Hands Academy Ltd. Mentored by doctoral researcher Ruochen Zhang, the student team included Max Norman, Dave Scott, Bonnie Chan, Zhen Liang and Wenqi Fu.
The team developed a two-way framework to support healthcare providers offer the right support to patients with needs that intersect across departments. Their design included a decision tree to filter providers and a scoring system to rank available options. They then included an AI agent to explain the complex rankings in plain terms to support decision-making.
Other challenges included mapping the effects of climate change on English fruit production, building precise climate risk models, and mapping the effects of vehicle pollution on urban air quality.
The camp concluded with a series of final presentations to a panel of experts on Friday 30 January. While the These Hands Academy team took home the top prize for their impactful healthcare solution, several individuals were recognized for their outstanding leadership and technical contributions throughout the week. The Best Individual Awards were handed to Anthony Owusu-Darko, Kefan Chen, Zhen Liang, Michael Mamattah, Wenqi Fu, and Devin Wang.
Reflecting on the week’s success, Professor Diwei Zhou said: “The AI Challenge Camp opens doors for students from all backgrounds to engage with real-world AI and discover its transformative potential. By working across disciplines, our students have shown that the future of AI is not just about the code, but about the positive impact we can create together.”