Graduate students from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) won 9 national first prizes, 4 second prizes and 10 third prizes at the national finals of the 8th China Graduate Artificial Intelligence Innovation Competition, held at Shandong University from 23 to 25 October 2026. NUAA says it won more first prizes than any other university.
The competition is one of China's largest graduate AI contests. According to the organisers' figures reported by Dazhong News, 5,637 teams registered and 74 first prizes were awarded in total, so NUAA teams took about one in eight of all first prizes. Their projects apply AI to satellites, robots, airports, medicine and aviation training.
Key facts
Competition: 8th China Graduate Artificial Intelligence Innovation Competition ("Huawei Cup"), national finals at Shandong University, 23–25 October 2026.
Organiser: the Chinese Society of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education, under the guidance of the Ministry of Education's Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education.
Scale: 5,637 registered teams; 74 first prizes, 222 second prizes and 1,052 third prizes awarded.
NUAA results: 9 first, 4 second and 10 third prizes — a record total for the university.
Colleges involved: Aerospace Engineering, Energy and Power Engineering, Civil Aviation, Computer Science and Technology, Astronautics, Artificial Intelligence, and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
Highlights from the winning projects
Satellite swarms that plan themselves. A College of Aerospace Engineering team built an AI decision and coordination system for very large satellite formations. Using deep reinforcement learning, the satellites reached a formation success rate of up to 97% while exchanging only local information.
Finding the cause of flight delays. A team from the Colleges of Civil Aviation and Computer Science combined 76 core operating indicators into a platform that traces delays across airport ground handling. Tested with real data from Shanghai Pudong Airport, it identified the delay cause with 95.50% accuracy and the delay stage with 95.86% accuracy.
AI for healthcare. College of Artificial Intelligence teams won first prizes for an ultrasound robot that navigates autonomously for precise liver-tumour ablation, Retina4IRD — a multimodal AI model for inherited retinal diseases built on international multi-centre clinical data — and MindBridge-BCI, a brain–computer interface that helps patients who cannot speak or move express their care needs.
Robots and flight training. Other winning teams developed an all-terrain wheel-legged robot that cut inference time by 45.1% compared with similar systems, a perception system for low-altitude drones that fuses visible, infrared and radar data, and an AI model for flight teaching built on data from more than 60 aircraft types.
What this means for international students
Artificial Intelligence is among the most popular undergraduate majors for NUAA's international students, and these projects show how AI is used across aerospace, transport and medicine at the university. Explore NUAA's programmes or find a supervisor for master's or PhD research.
Frequently asked questions
Is NUAA good for artificial intelligence?
NUAA graduate teams won 9 of the 74 national first prizes at the 2026 China Graduate AI Innovation Competition, with projects in satellite autonomy, airport operations, medical robotics and brain–computer interfaces. NUAA also has a dedicated College of Artificial Intelligence.
What is the China Graduate AI Innovation Competition?
It is a national contest for graduate students organised by the Chinese Society of Academic Degrees and Graduate Education. In 2026, its 8th edition, 5,637 teams registered and the finals were held at Shandong University on 23–25 October.
Can international students do AI research at NUAA?
Yes. International students can apply for English-taught master's and PhD study at NUAA and choose a supervisor whose research matches their interests, including AI applied to aerospace, robotics and healthcare.
Sources: NUAA official WeChat · Dazhong News
