ROAR Ambassadors Program

About the Program

Led by faculty members with deep expertise in AI and autonomous driving, UC Berkeley established  an AI racing competition in 2020. The Robot Open Autonomous Racing (ROAR) competition pits multi-university student racing teams to compete for speed and vehicle skills.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ROAR expanded its outreach to serve broader school communities in need of AI education and research. ROAR has now established three different leagues of AI Racing, and two classes for either college and above professional researchers or K-12 students. ROAR Academy has been established to supplement our ROAR education content by providing summer camp lectures to K-12 students by our ROAR faculty and students. Finally, we support Berkeley students and researchers to adopt the ROAR hardware and software platforms, which are completely open sourced, in their class projects and sponsored research programs. 

The Berkeley ROAR program would like to recognize the outstanding efforts and dedication of selective students who have been veterans of our ROAR platform, who have successfully completed ROAR AI Racing, and would like to contribute more by becoming an advocate and leader at their own school communities. Activities that the ROAR program would like to sponsor at your schools include organizing AI and Autonomous Driving seminars, participating in ROAR AI Racing, providing program feedback to us, and potentially becoming an active researcher to help grow the Berkeley ROAR program. Each ROAR ambassador will be directly teamed up with one ROAR faculty member and one graduate student at Berkeley.

Please note: The ROAR Ambassadors program, including the program application, is considered public information. Your submission to, and participation in, ROAR Ambassadors indicates that you provide explicit consent for UC Berkeley to publicly disclose your names and school information (for example, on the ROAR website). We may further disclose your ROAR-related activities at the request of appropriate legal authorities.

Benefits

• • Ambassadors will be advised by one faculty member and one graduate student at Berkeley, typically remotely via teleconference. This is supplementary to any existing school research programs at your schools. We are happy to also work closely with your school faculty to further define the scope of collaboration.

• • Ambassadors are qualified to participate in annual ROAR AI Racing.

• • Berkeley will provide financial support to ambassadors’ school projects, subject to funding availability and each ambassador’s proposed budget.

• • Each nomination of ambassadorship will be for a period of one calendar year (January – December). Current ambassadors are encouraged to apply to extend the appointment, so long as their affiliated schools remain the same.

Qualifications

• • Applicants must apply for an ambassador position as a current student with good standing from K-12 schools or college. 

• • At the point of the application, all applicants must have successfully completed one ROAR AI Racing competition in the Simulation Racing Series.

• • Applicants must provide a detailed ROAR activity plan for the duration of one year, including a budget request for financial support from Berkeley. Currently, we plan to fund multiple ambassadorships with an annual budget of $2,000 each.

• • Applicants must also provide a support letter from their schools. The letter should explain the applicants’ qualifications from their current academic studies in school, and how the school may support the applicants’ extracurricular activities in the ROAR program. The letter may come from the office of student counseling or the office of student club activities.

• • Usually, the school’s support letter would also explain how the school will receive and manage the financial support issued from Berkeley that will be spent according to the applicants’ proposed budget. In cases where the school does not directly manage the student club’s budget, the applicants can request direct reimbursement from Berkeley.

Application

• • Berkeley ROAR program will open the application for ROAR Ambassador once a year. The deadline for 2024 is Friday, Sept. 27.

• • Each application should be submitted directly through this form. You may also submit completed forms directly to Huo Chao <hc_kuan@berkeley.edu>. The application package should include the following forms:
    1. 1. A cover letter including the applicants’ names, their school, and contact information. 
       2. Applicants’ latest resumes. Please note that any successful applicant must have completed at least one ROAR AI Racing competition in the Simulation Racing Series at the time of application.
       3. A detailed description of the ROAR Ambassador plan that aims to support their local school communities, including a financial budget.
       4. A letter of support from applicants’ school, discussing the applicants’ academic qualifications and how the school will assist in managing the ROAR Ambassador financials.
       5. Any additional information the applicants’ would like to disclose, including additional support letters from the school faculty or peers.
       6. Existing ambassador teams may submit a renewal application to extend their program for the same period of one year. A renewal application must provide the same information as outlined above. In addition, existing ambassadors must provide a summary about their past activities and evaluate their impact in their student communities to justify a renewal.

• • ROAR Ambassadors will be selected, informed, and announced in early October.

Submission Form

Submissions are now open for 2024 and due on Sept. 27, 2024. Each application should be submitted directly through this form. You may also submit forms and email any questions to Huo Chao Kuan, <hc_kuan@berkeley.edu>.