$4 Million Grant Received For Setting Up Large Scale Neuromorphic Computing Project

The MATRIX AI Consortium on the College of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) acquired a $4 million grant from the Nationwide Science Basis to fund The Neuromorphic Commons (THOR) mission. As a part of this multi-university initiative, the THOR mission presents researchers entry to a first-of-its-kind large-scale neuromorphic computing system.

The core crew of researchers driving this interdisciplinary collaborative effort contains:

1.) Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Principal Investigator, College of Texas at San Antonio

2.) Catherine Schuman, Co-Principal Investigator, College of Tennessee Knoxville

3.) Gert Cauwenberghs, Co-Principal Investigator, College of California San Diego; and

4.) Vijay Janapa Reddi, Senior Personnel, Harvard College

THOR is predicted to rework algorithm design, {hardware} and software program co-design, and neuromorphic purposes, comparable in scale to the influence seen when high-performance computing methods grew to become accessible to the engineering analysis neighborhood. And THOR will likely be accessible to numerous analysis communities, together with computational neuroscience, life sciences, synthetic intelligence, machine studying, and physics.

The THOR crew will moreover develop coaching and academic supplies protecting the basics of neuromorphic studying algorithms and methods. All sources will likely be accessible by open platforms to researchers, facilitating integration into each undergraduate and graduate curricula.

KEY QUOTES:

“We plan to design a nationwide hub for open entry massive scale neuromorphic platforms, by close-knit business partnerships. The sector is at a pivotal second and guaranteeing entry to a broader group of researchers is essential at this stage. This initiative displays a community-driven method, shaping a framework designed by and for the neighborhood.”

• Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Principal Investigator on the College of Texas at San Antonio

“Constructing and instructing widespread instruments is critical to see additional innovation within the area.” 

• Catherine Schuman, Co-Principal Investigator from College of Tennessee Knoxville

“THOR will give customers direct entry to a spread of highly effective neuromorphic {hardware} modeling and emulating mind operate at unprecedented scale.” 

• Gert Cauwenberghs, Co-Principal Investigator from College of California San Diego

“This award is essential in advancing NSF’s mission to drive innovation and broadening entry to analysis sources. By making bio-inspired computing sources accessible to a wider neighborhood of researchers in laptop science, neuroscience, and computational physics, this mission will contribute to democratizing entry to superior instruments and fostering breakthroughs in energy-efficient, resilient AI by neuromorphic computing.”

• NSF Program Director Andrey Kanaev