Since the Annual Excellence Awards of the Association of Intelligent Engineering and Technology (AIET) were established in 2021, AIET has formed a stable mechanism of holding the annual selection and award ceremony every December. As of the end of 2024, the awards had completed four selections from 2021 to 2024, continuously recognizing professionals, research teams, and partner institutions that made important contributions in intelligent engineering and technology. The awards have gradually become an important honour program followed by the intelligent engineering academic community in the Asia-Pacific region.

The original purpose of establishing the AIET Annual Excellence Awards is to provide innovation pioneers in intelligent engineering and technology with a recognition platform carrying international credibility. The awards emphasize the authenticity of achievements, the verifiability of contributions, and the sustainability of impact. They focus not only on breakthroughs in basic research and engineering application, but also on the long-term value created by young talent development and cross-regional academic cooperation.

As of 2024, the awards maintained four fixed categories: Outstanding Contribution Award, Innovation Achievement Award, Young Engineer Award, and International Cooperation Award. The Outstanding Contribution Award is for senior experts who have long promoted the development of the field. The Innovation Achievement Award is for individuals or teams that have achieved important breakthroughs in technology research and development, engineering implementation, or standards development. The Young Engineer Award is for young talent under the age of 40 as of the nomination deadline who demonstrate outstanding research potential and engineering practice capability. The International Cooperation Award is for individuals or institutions that promote cross-regional academic exchange, joint research, and engineering collaboration.

The award selection mechanism centers on independence and professionalism. Each selection is handled by an independent review committee. Reviewers must have no direct interest relationship with nominating parties or candidates and must sign independence and conflict-of-interest avoidance declarations before participating in review. The process normally includes three stages: eligibility screening, independent review by professional committee members, and collective deliberation by the final review committee. Shortlisted materials are reviewed separately by multiple experts, and the final winner list is determined by the final review committee through discussion and majority approval.

Looking back at the four selections from 2021 to 2024, the AIET Annual Excellence Awards witnessed many outstanding achievements in intelligent manufacturing, industrial IoT, artificial intelligence engineering, systems engineering, and cross-regional technical cooperation. The first selection in 2021 formally established the four award categories. In 2022, the review process became more institutionalized. In 2023, the sources of review experts became more international. In 2024, nomination coverage continued to expand, and the transparency and standardization of the selection were further improved.

For the fifth selection in 2025, AIET will continue to use the independent review and public archive mechanism, while optimizing review details in line with development trends in intelligent engineering and technology. The Association Secretariat stated that the 2025 award work will proceed in an orderly manner within the year. After nomination intake, eligibility screening, expert review, and final review are completed, the annual award ceremony is planned for December 2025. Through this platform, AIET looks forward to continuously discovering and recognizing innovative forces that drive industry progress and injecting new academic momentum into the development of intelligent engineering and technology.