At the end of 2024, a student team from the College of Chemical Engineering at Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT) won First Prize at the 1st National Chemical Industry Artificial Intelligence Innovation Competition.

Held in Beijing on December 29, 2024, the competition was hosted by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and co-organized by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CAS), and other partners. Under the theme “AI Empowers Industry: Smartening the Future of Chemistry”, the event served as a national platform for technical exchange and innovation display in the integration of AI and chemical engineering.

BUCT’s winning team, “Zhihang Catalysis”, guided by Professors Cheng Daojian and Xu Haoxiang, included five graduate students from three BUCT faculties. Their project, “High-Throughput Catalyst Development Driven by Big Data and AI”, proposed an intelligent closed-loop system combining big data analysis, AI modeling, and high-throughput experimentation (HTE). The system significantly accelerates catalyst discovery by overcoming bottlenecks such as low screening efficiency, long development cycles, and limited performance prediction.

In addition to the First Prize, BUCT was honored with the Excellent Organization Award for its outstanding coordination, team preparation, and strong support of AI-chemical integration initiatives.

This success marks a major step in BUCT’s effort to lead the future of “AI + Chemical Engineering” talent development and innovation.