AWS recently announced the launch of the AWS AI & ML Scholarship program in collaboration with Intel and Udacity, designed to prepare underrepresented and underserved students globally for careers in AI and ML. The AWS AI & ML Scholarship program is launching as part of the all-new AWS DeepRacer Student service and Student League. This is a new student division of the popular AWS DeepRacer program, a cloud-based 3D car racing simulator that provides a fun way to learn about ML and reinforcement learning (RL). 

Through DeepRacer Student, learners will have access to free online training to learn the ML and RL basics. Students will also be able to access 10 hours of model training and 5 GB of storage per month to participate in the DeepRacer Student League, a global autonomous racing competition exclusively for AWS AI & ML students. In collaboration with Intel and Udacity, the program is geared toward underserved and underrepresented high school and college students globally who are at least 16 years old. These are students who may have faced financial barriers growing up or are part of underrepresented groups, including women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, as well as people of colour. 

Students in these groups who take part in the DeepRacer Student League will be eligible for a chance to win one or two of 2,500 annual scholarships from Udacity, an online learning platform focused on technology skills.

To be considered for the scholarship, students must successfully finish all AWS DeepRacer Student learning modules and achieve a score of at least 80% on all course quizzes, reach a certain lap time performance with their DeepRacer car in the Student League, and submit an essay.

Each year, 2,000 students will win a scholarship to the AI Programming with Python Udacity Nanodegree program. Udacity Nanodegrees are massive open online courses (MOOCs) designed to bridge the gap between learning and career goals. This aims to equip students with programming and ML fundamentals to solve real-world problems with ML. The top 500 participants in this first Nanodegree will be eligible to join a second customized Nanodegree program curated specifically for AWS AI & ML Scholarship program recipients.

All scholarship recipients will be given exclusive access to Ask-Me-Anythings (AMAs), fireside chats, and office hours with AI/ML professionals and diversity experts from Amazon, Intel, and AWS collaborators such as Girls in Tech. These will help familiarize students with different job functions in the AI/ML field.

To register for the program, click here.