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)购买、部署和运营高性能计算(HPC)集群。通过在西田纳西地区和附近各州(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率，推动新的研究领域，促进培训HPC劳动力，并增强该地区至少10家参与机构的教育承诺。该集群包括多种类型的100多个最先进的图形处理器(NVIDIA 4090、A6000和A100)，以满足地区机构在研究开发方面的不同需求。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HPC操作劳动力。为女学生、代表性不足的种族群体和其他边缘化社区的女学生提供教育机会，将广泛促进该区域人工智能和高性能计算机劳动力的多样化。该集群还将适用于缺乏计算设施的地区性大学，如勒莫因-欧文学院和基督教兄弟大学。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庞大的需求，以开发人工智能方法和大数据应用程序(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。每个线程将使许多领域的基础和应用研究成为可能，例如1)儿科癌症诊断；2)确保实时系统的安全；3)人工智能驱动的辅导系统；4)自动驾驶导航系统；5)昆虫-植物相互作用的计算机模拟。这项研究将使West TN走在融合人工智能和数据科学的前沿，以解决科学和社会问题的及时研究，并为下一代人工智能科学家和HPC管理员提供培训机会。这一群组将涉及37多名教职员工和193名来自西田纳西州10多个研究机构的不同人群的学生顾问，特别是有利于STEM中代表性不足的少数群体(例如，第一代和女性)。最后，拟议的集群将启用教学和培训计划，这些计划将使学生更好地掌握人工智能和HPC操作技能；反过来，这将使未来的人工智能研究、HPC管理和区域行业的劳动力受益并多样化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.