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2025 – 2026 AAEOY PROCEEDINGS

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Join us on September 19, 2026, at the Santa Clara Convention Center for an afternoon AI Conference bringing together leaders in technology, startups, investment, and education to explore how AI is shaping our future.

The conference will feature two tracks: the Technology Track and the Education Track.

The Technology Track, “Engineering the AI-Native Future: How AI Is Transforming Technology, Business, and Innovation,” will bring together Silicon Valley AI leaders, venture investors, startup founders, and engineers to examine how AI-native companies are changing the way organizations compete, build products, develop software, and create entirely new industries.

The program will feature keynote speaker Jeremiah Owyang, General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures and Founder & Host of Llama Lounge, presenting “The AI-Native Era: How Organizations Will Compete, Build, and Scale.” Featured sessions will also include Bernard Harguindeguy on how every company is becoming an AI company, Leo Tchourakov of Factory on the self-improving software factory, and startup leaders sharing how AI is transforming startups and creating new industries.

Topics will include AI-native companies, agentic AI, intelligent software development, cybersecurity, AI accessibility, smart wearables, human-AI collaboration, venture capital, startups, and emerging technologies.

The Education Track will explore how we prepare people for this rapidly changing world. Dr. Arun Majumdar, Dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, will present “Education in the Age of AI: Preparing Minds for an Intelligent Future,” while Johnny Ho, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Perplexity AI, will discuss “Orchestrating Entrepreneurship in AI.”

Together, the two tracks explore both sides of the AI transformation: how we build the AI-native future—and how we prepare people to thrive in it.

September 19, 2026 | 1:00 PM
Santa Clara Convention Center

🏆 2026 “Engineering Changes the World” AIGC Challenge Results

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 National AI-Generated Content (AIGC) Video Challenge!

This national competition invited youth and adults to use AI-powered storytelling to demonstrate how engineering has transformed our world, improved lives, and continues to shape the future.

Division I-1 — Middle School, Grades 6–8

• First Place: Preston Tsai and Zachary Fang — Beyond the Scratch: The Future of Wound Care
• Second Place: Hannah Wu — The Promise of the Future
• Third Place: Ran Yan, Jingyu Lin, and Chunmei Zhu — Nothing Happened Today

Division I-2 — High School, Grades 9–12

• First Place: Melody Jing — One More Chance
• Second Place: Hanson Du, Ryan Guo, and Alex Du — Heatwave in Paris: Counteracting Global Warming
• Third Place: Samuel Wan, Aliza Teng, and Samuel Liu — The Connected World: Every Bug Builds the Future

Division II — College and Graduate Students

• First Place: Kimberly Ong — The Connective Tissue of Civilization
• Second Place: Brianna Ong — The Outdoor Prescription
• Third Place: Eric Zhang — Steel to Silicon

Division III — Adults

• First Place: Ginger Deng — The Moment That Matters
• Second Place: Chee Seong Ong — Changing the World, One Solution at a Time
• Third Place: Shiang Yu Lee — Dilatational Acceleration and Galaxy Dynamics

Category Awards

Community and Culture:

• Brandon Gu — Winter’s Journey: From Lost to Loved
• Chee Seong Ong — Changing the World, One Solution at a Time
• Kimberly Ong — The Connective Tissue of Civilization

Health and Wellness:

• Brianna Ong — The Outdoor Prescription
• Melody Jing — One More Chance
• Preston Tsai and Zachary Fang — Beyond the Scratch: The Future of Wound Care

Science and Technology:

• Hanson Du, Ryan Guo, and Alex Du — Heatwave in Paris: Counteracting Global Warming
• Eric Zhang — Steel to Silicon
• Ginger Deng — The Moment That Matters
• Hannah Wu — The Promise of the Future
• Ivy Liu, Vivian Wu, Vincent Wu — Finding Our Way: How GPS Changed the World
• Ran Yan, Jingyu Lin, and Chunmei Zhu — Nothing Happened Today
• Suri Li — ImagineMe: Engineering Creativity for Every Mind

Other:

• Ally Jin — Main Methods and Technology to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

🏆 Public Voting Starts — Help Select the Most Popular Award!

Congratulations again to all winners and participants of the 2026 National AAEOY AI-Generated Content (AIGC) Video Challenge!

Under this year’s theme, “Engineering Changes the World,” youth and adults from across the country used AI-powered storytelling to demonstrate how engineering transforms our world, improves lives, and shapes the future.

We are now entering the exciting final stage: Distinguished Award selection!

🏆 Distinguished Awards

Three Distinguished Awards will be presented:

• Engineering Mindset Award — selected by the judging panel
• Film Innovation Award — selected by the judging panel
• Most Popular Award — determined through a combination of judging and public voting

The Most Popular Award recognizes the video that best connects with, engages, and inspires audiences while capturing the spirit of “Engineering Changes the World.”

📣 Watch • Vote • Share!

We invite participants, families, friends, educators, colleagues, and the entire community to join us!

⏰ Voting Deadline: 12:01 AM PDT, September 12, 2026

We encourage everyone to watch the videos before voting and select the project that genuinely inspires you most. Please also share the videos and voting opportunity with your family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and community!

Throughout National Engineering Month, we hope these creative works will reach an even broader audience and inspire more people to discover the power of engineering, AI, and innovation.

🎉 What’s Next?

The Distinguished Award results will be announced after the selection process is complete, and the winners will be recognized at the AAEOY Awards Celebration on September 19, 2026.

We sincerely thank every participant for sharing your creativity, technical skills, and vision. We also thank the families, educators, judges, volunteers, sponsors, CIE chapters, and supporting organizations whose dedication made this first national competition possible.

Congratulations to all our winners and participants! Together, you have demonstrated how engineering, creativity, and AI can work together to change the world!

26 National AAEOY AIGC Video Challenge Committee
CIE/USA

 “Engineering Changes the World” AIGC Video Challenge, a national-level program, as part of an Engineering Month campaign leading up to the AAEOY Awards Celebration on September 19, 2026. Through public engagement and AI-powered storytelling, the goal is to build awareness, excitement, and momentum for the AAEOY celebration while inspiring participants to explore, appreciate, and communicate how engineering innovations have transformed our world and continue to improve lives.

I.  Competition Overview

• Mission
  Inspire people of all ages to discover how engineering has transformed human civilization and how emerging AI technologies can accelerate learning, foster creativity, support innovation, and help communicate the stories and ideas that shape our world. 

• Theme: Engineering Changes the World
  A National AI-Powered Engineering Showcase Video Competition in Celebration of Innovation Excellence and AAEOY.

• Competition Timeline
   Registration: June 27 – Aug 3, 2026
  Early Bird Deadline: July 20, 2026 
  Submission Deadline: August 10, 2026 (11:59 PM PDT)
  Finalists Announced: August 24, 2026 (11:59 PM PDT)
  Online Exhibition and Public Engagement: August 22 – September 19. 2026
  Awards Ceremony*: September 19, 2026
  

II. Eligibility

• The competition is open to both youth and adult participants.
• Participants may enter:
  o   Individually, or
  o   As a team up to three members
  

III. Divisions

• Division I – Students
      I-1. Middle School (6–8)
      I-2. High School (9–12)
• Division II – College Students
      Current full time Undergraduate and Graduate students
• Division III – Adults
      Adults Applicants

III. Registration

• Early Bird Registration: $10 per team (through July 20, 2026)
• Regular Registration: $15 per team (July 21–27, 2026)
• Registration fees are non-refundable.
• Participants must complete the online registration form before the registration deadline.

Click Here to register this event.

IV. Submission Requirements

• Original Work – The submission must be the original work of the participant(s) and comply with all copyright, intellectual property, and content usage requirements.
• AI-Generated Content: Utilize AI tools for video creation. 
• Video Length Requirements
  o   Division I: 2–3 minutes
  o   Divisions II & III: 3–5 minutes

• Entries must be submitted in the required video format by the published deadline and include a brief project description outlining.
• Please check on submission form or this link for more detail.

For questions, please contact: aigc@cie-usa.net

V. Official Rules

• Originality Matters – All submissions must be substantially original work created by the participant(s). Plagiarism or unauthorized use of copyrighted materials is prohibited.
• Responsible Use of AI – Generative AI tools are encouraged; however, participants are responsible for ensuring that all AI-generated content complies with applicable copyright and intellectual property laws.
• Appropriate Content Only – Submissions must be suitable for a general educational audience and must not contain offensive, discriminatory, unlawful, or inappropriate content.
• Organizer Rights – By entering the contest, participants grant the organizers permission to display, promote, and showcase submitted works for contest, educational, and promotional purposes while retaining ownership of their original work.
• Please check Official Rules on submission form or this link for more detail.

VI. Judging & Evaluation

VII. Awards & Recognition

• Distinguished Awards
  o   Engineering Mindset Award
  o   Film Innovation Award
  o   Most Popular Award

• Division Awards
  o   First Place
  o   Second Place
  o   Third Place

For additional information and answers to frequently asked questions, please refer to the Q&A document available here.

* The Awards Ceremony will take place during the AAEOY Celebration: https://aaeoy.org/ 
** Disclaimer: This video is AI-generated for educational and non-commercial purposes. Any depiction of public figures is intended solely for commentary, inspiration, and informational storytelling.