Shen Bo, executive vice-president of ASML and president of ASML China, attended the donation ceremony with the Shanghai Science Education Development Foundation in Shanghai. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
ASML is stepping up its support for science popularization education in China, with one example being supporting the 23rd Shanghai Future Engineer Competition.
“Continuous support for this competition for ten years holds special significance for ASML,” Shen Bo, executive vice-president of ASML and president of ASML China, said in an interview with China Daily. “As a technology company with a strong engineering culture, we have long been committed to STEM education for young people.”
The comments came as the company recently held a donation and signing ceremony with the Shanghai Science Education Development Foundation at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, marking its 10th consecutive year of backing the event.
“The Shanghai Future Engineer Competition emphasizes hands-on practice, problem-solving, and engineering thinking — values that are deeply aligned with the engineering spirit we cherish at ASML,” Shen added.
Founded in 2004, the Shanghai Future Engineer Competition has grown into a major platform for practical engineering education among young students, engaging nearly 1 million participants over the years. Since 2017, ASML has provided financial support, established special awards, and mobilized employee volunteers for judging and on-site assistance, helping sustain and enrich the program.
When asked about the strengths he has observed among engineers in China, Shen said they are often resilient, flexible, and diligent. “In the AI era, these qualities are essentials for future engineers in a fast-changing technology environment.”
According to him, as a tool, AI can greatly boost engineers’ efficiency, but, like any machine, it is designed by humans. “That’s why we still need engineering thinking — capable engineers to steer it, to make it help us solve real problems and realize innovative ideas.”
He added that AI actually raises the bar for engineers rather than lowering it.
“Take software engineering, much of the coding work can now be done by AI, but that means the remaining part demands higher skills — engineers need stronger abilities to guide and train AI to do more, so AI may place ever higher demands on engineers.”
“In the AI era, ‘soft’ requirements become very important,” Shen continued. “Because AI is an intelligent tool — knowing how to teach it to work for you is a critical skill. At the company level, communication skills and humanistic literacy may matter even more than before.”
Reflecting on his own journey, Shen shared a personal anecdote.
“I’ve enjoyed hands-on work since childhood — fixing desk lamps, for instance, I realized that repairing a lamp actually requires cross-disciplinary knowledge to solve.”
That early curiosity, he noted, mirrors the very spirit the competition seeks to cultivate.
“Over the past ten years, ASML has stood shoulder to shoulder with us, using ‘light’ as a brush and the ‘chip’ as paper, precisely passing the torch of wisdom to the younger generation,” Wang Xiaoming, executive vice chairman of the Shanghai Science Education Development Foundation, said. “The foundation will continue to work closely with outstanding companies like ASML, bringing cutting-edge technology to young people in a warmer and more engaging way — letting the ‘chip fire’ burn brighter and allowing the seeds of innovation to take deep root and flourish on this fertile soil.”
Tanks to chinadaily.com.cn
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