Self-driven to succeed! Cambrian College students win contest for autonomous model cars – April 28

SUDBURY – Cambrian College students earned the checkered flag at an Ontario-wide, high-tech model car race.

A team from Cambrian’s Computer Programming – Internet of Things (CPIN) program took top spot at Canada’s first-ever, inter-college AWS DeepRacer competition, held April 22-23 at Humber College in Toronto.

Cambrian also fielded teams from its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and Business Analytics programs. Cambrian competed against students from five other colleges.

In the competition, students programmed robotic cars to navigate a designated track autonomously. The cars, using artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning, were able to make their own decisions on how to best complete the track.

Cambrian’s winning team, the Sharks, started the competition at the back of the pack with the slowest practice time before overtaking the competition to win top prize.

“At the beginning of the 2025 DeepRacer competition, we were in last place, but we never gave up,” says Alvaro Acosta Calle, a student in CPIN and a member of the winning team. “With perseverance and teamwork, we turned things around and won first prize.”

Cambrian’s Computer Programming – Internet of Things program is the only college diploma program of its kind in Ontario where hardware, software, and IoT systems are designed and implemented.

“I was thrilled to see all Cambrian teams acting as a family despite being in competition,” says Yousef Elarian, team co-coach, professor and coordinator for Cambrian’s AI and Machine Learning and Computer Programming – Internet of Things programs.  “They helped, supported, and celebrated  each other! They truly showed a vivid example of the ‘all for one and one for all’ motto.”

Cambrian’s AI and Machine Learning program is one of the newest programs of its kind in Ontario. It was officially launched in January of this year.

“We went there as a Cambrian team, and when Cambrian’s name was called as the winner, we all felt delighted and thrilled,” says Reza Dibaj, team co-coach and professor in Cambrian’s AI and Machine Learning and Business Analytics programs. “This is just the beginning! With these students of Cambrian, any success is achievable.”

To learn more about Cambrian’s AI and Machine Learning, Computer Programming – Internet of Things, and Business Analytics programs, visit www.cambriancollege.ca.

Photo: A team of students in Cambrian College’s Computer Programming – Internet of Things program took top spot at this month’s AWS DeepRacer competition in Toronto. In the competition, students programmed robotic cars to navigate a designated track autonomously, using artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning. Pictured are (left to right): Alvaro Acosta Calle, Mahammad Ayan, Matthew Pheaton, and Trung Tran.