Equipment: MRI: Track 2 Acquisition of a HPC Cluster for Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration on AI-driven and Data-intensive Research and Education in West Tennessee

该项目将在孟菲斯大学（UofM）获得、部署和运行一个高性能计算（HPC）集群。通过在西田纳西州地区和附近的州（如密西西比州和阿肯色州）共享拟议的设备，该集群将显著提高研究质量和生产力，实现新的研究领域，促进HPC劳动力的培训，并增强该地区至少10个参与机构的教育承诺。该集群包含多种类型的100多个最先进的gpu (NVIDIA 4090， A6000和A100)，适合区域机构研究开发的不同需求。该集群将支持该地区跨学科研究领域的本科生和研究生的教学和研究，帮助培养下一代人工智能科学家和高性能计算操作人才。为女性学生、代表性不足的种族群体和其他边缘化社区的学生提供教育机会，将广泛促进该地区人工智能和高性能计算劳动力的多样化。该集群也将提供给地区学院，如缺乏计算设备的LeMoyne-Owen学院和基督教兄弟大学。跨研究计算社区的深度学习的快速发展促进了对计算能力的日益巨大的需求，以开发人工智能方法和大数据应用（例如ChatGPT）。GPU集群将支持五个研究领域的人工智能研究和应用：智能健康、网络安全、教育技术、智能交通和计算生物学。每个线程将在许多领域进行基础和应用研究，例如1)儿科癌症诊断；2)保护实时系统；3)人工智能驱动的辅导系统；4)自动驾驶导航系统；5)昆虫与植物相互作用进化的计算模拟。这项研究将使西田纳西大学处于将人工智能和数据科学整合到科学和社会问题及时研究的前沿，并为下一代人工智能科学家和高性能计算管理员提供培训机会。该集群将涉及超过37名教职员工和来自西田纳西州10多个研究机构的193名学生顾问，特别有利于STEM中代表性不足的少数群体（例如，第一代和女性）。最后，拟议的集群将使教学和培训计划成为可能，这将使学生更好地掌握人工智能和高性能计算操作技能；反过来，这将使人工智能研究、高性能计算管理和区域产业的未来劳动力受益并多样化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will acquire, deploy, and operate a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster at the University of Memphis (UofM). By sharing the proposed equipment across the West Tennessee region and throughout nearby states (e.g., Mississippi and Arkansas), this cluster will significantly increase research quality and productivity, enable new areas of research efforts, promote training HPC workforce, and enhance the educational commitment of at least 10 participating institutions in this region. The cluster encompasses multiple types of over 100 state-of-the-art GPUs (NVIDIA 4090, A6000, and A100) that fit the diverse needs of regional institutions for research development. The cluster will support teaching and research for undergraduate and graduate students in the region across interdisciplinary research fields, helping prepare the next generation of AI scientists and HPC operation workforces. Education opportunities in the cluster for female students, underrepresented racial groups, and those from other marginalized communities will broadly promote the diversification of the AI and HPC workforce in the region. The cluster will also be available for regional colleges, such as LeMoyne-Owen College and Christian Brothers University, which lack a computing facility.The rapid development of deep learning across research computing communities has facilitated increasingly massive needs for computing capacity to develop AI approaches and big data applications (e.g., ChatGPT). The GPU cluster will support AI research and applications across five research areas: intelligent health, cybersecurity, education technology, smart transportation, and computational biology. Each thread will enable fundamental and applied research in many areas, such as 1) pediatric cancer diagnosis; 2) securing real-time systems; 3) AI-driven tutoring systems; 4) auto-driving navigation systems; and 5) computational simulations for the evolution of insect-plant interactions. The research will put West TN at the forefront of integrating AI and data science into addressing the timely research of scientific and societal issues and providing training opportunities for the next generation of AI scientists and HPC administrators. This cluster will involve more than 37 faculty members with 193 student advisees from a diverse population from over 10 research institutions at West TN, particularly benefiting the underrepresented minorities in STEM (e.g., first-gen and women). Finally, the proposed cluster will enable teaching and training programs, which will empower to better equip students with AI and HPC operations skills; in turn, this will benefit and diversify the future workforce of AI research, HPC management, and regional industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.