Empowering Youth Innovation, Nurturing Future Industry Leaders 2025 Ford UCAN Innovation Camp Successfully Concludes Across Four Cities

2025 Ford UCAN Innovation Camp Chongqing Session

With the successful conclusion of events in Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing, the 2025 Ford UCAN Innovation Camp has officially wrapped up. Centered around the Ford brand proposition "Unleash Your Wild Side" this year, the Ford UCAN Innovation Challenge attracted nearly 3,000 students from both China and overseas. Thirty-six outstanding participants selected from the four camps will gather in Shanghai this summer to compete in the 2025 Ford UCAN Innovation Challenge National Finals.

The 2025 Ford UCAN Innovation Camp expanded its three core modules – Online Live Courses, Corporate Visits, and Offline Workshops – aimed at empowering participants with innovative thinking and practical skills, helping them master the application of AI in promoting innovative design. As a crucial practical experience, this year's Innovation Camp built upon the foundations of AI-empowered innovation by introducing, for the first time at each location, a dedicated in-depth corporate visit segment. It also upgraded its curriculum and mentor system to build a comprehensive talent development ecosystem covering innovative thinking, business practice, and career development.

Ford UCAN Innovation Camp Beijing Session Visiting the Customization Workshop

This year, the online live courses underwent a new round of upgrades, covering topics such as Five Steps of Innovation Project Designing, AI Empowering Innovation Design, and Innovative Thinking for Life Design. As a newly added course, Innovative Thinking for Life Design guides participants in planning their career paths through in-depth analysis and practical application of life design tools.

To better immerse participants in real-world work scenarios and problem-solving, the Ford UCAN Innovation Camp took extra steps to incliude corporate visits. Participants were organized to visit the Nanjing Ford Vehicle Research and Test Center, Ford Beyond or Changan Ford dealerships. These visits provided a comprehensive understanding of Ford's products and culture, deep insights into the needs and pain points of different user groups, and an exploration of market demand-driven technological values within authentic business contexts.

Participants Integrating AI into Innovation Project Design

Throughout the camps, 80 experts from Ford departments including Human Resources, Product Development, Customer Operations, and IT actively participated as volunteers in empowering the participants. They provided support and guidance across multiple dimensions, from technical sharing and product analysis to user insights. In addition to the Ford volunteer team, each workshop was equipped with three innovation coaches who closely followed the participants' learning progress and output, ensuring a high-quality experience and deep ideation throughout the process.

"The Ford UCAN Innovation Camp offers a triple training in technical depth, market acumen, and professional perspective," said Molly Yang, Vice President, Ford China Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. "Ford, through the full-chain involvement of its R&D system, sales network, and human resources, is paving a transition path for participants from campus to career. Our goal is to cultivate the next generation of industry elites, helping to enhance the innovation capabilities and market competitiveness of the entire sector."

Innovation Coaches Providing In-Depth Guidance

The 2025 "Ford UCAN Innovation Challenge" National Finals will convene in Shanghai this summer. Finalists will be required to focus on the theme of "Smart Mobility," utilizing AI tools and innovative methodologies to design solutions within a limited timeframe. The winning team will receive entrepreneurship incubation support provided by Ford China.