Public Sector Tech Talk E30: Accelerating Higher Education Research through the Convergence of HPC and AI

Event Overview

High performance computing (HPC) systems have empowered researchers at higher ed institutions to investigate and tackle some of the world's most complex problems for decades. Researchers have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software solutions to advance their initiatives for similar duration. In the past, HPC and AI may have coexisted in the same lab, but did not easily integrate with one another. In the past few years, that's changed as these technologies have intersected creating an opportunity for converged HPC/AI platforms where the whole most definitely exceeds the sum of the parts. The result gives researchers access to unparalleled high-performance and acceleration from edge to cloud at every scale, changing the type and amount of science they can accomplish. Today we'll look at converged HPC/AI platforms, why they're critical to the ongoing success of higher ed institutions' research and future grant acquisition, and what to look for in a platform.

What to expect

Gone are the days when higher education institution research simply required more compute power, and racking-and-stacking HPC systems proved sufficient to crunch data. Today's research mega-grants and government and industry partnerships mandate intelligence be interwoven seamlessly with data gathering, governance, and analytics to deliver breakthroughs. And that means converged HPC/AI platforms will play a vital role in the higher education institution's IT infrastructure going forward – provided they are properly deployed and leveraged. During this episode, subject matter experts from WWT, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and NVIDIA will discuss:

What comprises a converged HPC/AI platform
Why converged HPC/AI platforms have advanced in recent years, and why their adoption in the higher education community continues to rise rapidly
How converged platforms deliver massive acceleration, and how science benefits
Which obstacles – and myths – must be avoided to truly realize HPC/AI convergence
Where's the market headed, and what can researchers and institutions do to stay a step ahead
Use cases, best practices, and lessons learned in higher education and higher education research where converged HPC/AI platforms have been deployed successfully.

Goals and Objectives

After viewing this episode, you will understand more about the merging of traditional HPC into an AI platform, the possibilities and advantages that accompany converged HPC/AI platforms, the advances that lie ahead, and how to bring converged HPC/AI platforms into the research lab with minimal disruption and maximum impact.

Who should attend?

Public sector IT professionals, including those in higher education, looking to learn about emerging technologies and drivers shaping the future of government and higher education research. This series is geared towards those that are developing and executing solutions that address the unique challenges faced by government agencies and higher education institutions. In this case, a focus on the intersection of HPC and AI for researchers, and its implications on scientific discovery and securing mega-grants and government and industry partnerships.

Presenters

Steve Heibein

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Artificial Intelligence Lead

Tom Gibbs

NVIDIA