The Ultimate Academic Assistant for NPU International Students
Designed with precision for the NPU community
Specialized in NPU academics, visa guidance, and campus life support with Qwen-2.5-32b model for human-like understanding.
Combines AI with real university documents using FAISS for lightning-fast retrieval and MiniLM-L6-v2 embeddings for semantic understanding.
Experience fluid, sentence-by-sentence response generation with optimized threading for smooth interaction even on high-latency connections.
Advanced rate-limiting and conversation tracking with automatic API key rotation and robust error handling for 24/7 reliability.
From concept to creation: the story behind PearlAi
Creating PearlAi wasn't just a technical challenge—it was a labor of love born from our own struggles as international students at NPU.
As international students, we faced daily challenges navigating NPU's systems. Information was scattered across multiple platforms, often only in Chinese. The frustration of seeing fellow students struggle with the same issues sparked an idea: what if we could create an AI assistant specifically for NPU?
Our journey began with testing different language models, each presenting unique challenges:
Working with limited resources, we faced significant technical challenges that required creative solutions:
After months of trials, we finally found our solution:
The final stretch involved polishing and perfecting:
Currently in testing phase with promising results:
The engineering behind the experience
Experience the actual PearlAi assistant
The technology powering PearlAi
2 vCPUs, 4 GiB RAM
ecs.e-c1m2.large
40 GiB ESSD
100 Mbps (Pay-By-Traffic)
Alibaba Cloud Linux 3.2104 LTS (64-bit)
Optimized for AI API Integration – Handles AI workloads efficiently with Qwen API & Groq
Cost-Effective – Significant savings with long-term subscription plans
Scalable – Suitable for moderate AI traffic, with upgrade flexibility
Reliable Performance – Stable cloud infrastructure for AI applications
Every limitation became an opportunity to innovate.
We built the tool we wished we had when we first arrived.
We met during our first semester at NPU, both struggling with the same challenges of navigating a new academic system in a foreign country. What began as a mutual frustration evolved into a shared vision: to create a tool that would make life easier for every international student who followed in our footsteps.
Nights of coding turned into weeks, and weeks into months. We balanced our studies with development, often working until dawn to solve particularly challenging problems. When faced with computational limitations, we utilized free resources like Google Colab and optimized our code to work efficiently with the tools available to us.
Today, PearlAi represents not just a technical achievement, but a testament to what determination and friendship can accomplish. We're proud to share it with the NPU community and continue improving it based on your feedback.
Our vision for PearlAi's future
Native apps for iOS and Android to provide on-the-go assistance for NPU students
Speak directly to PearlAi for hands-free assistance in multiple languages
integrating smart maps that will guide students around campus and important places in Xi'an.
Direct integration with NPU's official systems for personalized schedules and notifications