I/UCRC: University of Florida Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Big Learning

本项目拟建立NSF I/UCR大学习中心（CBL）。CBL的使命是通过CBL联盟的统一和协调努力，引领大规模深度学习算法、系统和应用。CBL的愿景是创造智能驱动社会的智能推动者。随着自然系统、工程系统和人类活动产生的爆炸性大数据，我们需要智能算法和系统来帮助我们自动大规模地进行决策。随着我们的社会走向充满机会的智能世界，拟议中的CBL中心是一个及时的倡议。CBL财团有望成为深度学习研究和应用的磁石，吸引顶尖的研究人员、热情的企业家、IT和行业巨头共同完成这一充满希望的使命和愿景。这一计划拨款将促成一个成功的提案，建立NSF I/UCR大学习中心，与多个校区和大量行业合作伙伴建立坚实的联盟。CBL具有以下更广泛的影响。(1)在开创性研究和应用方面为深度学习社区做出重大贡献和影响，以解决广泛的现实挑战。(2)为促进整个行业，特别是我们会员的产品和服务作出重大贡献和影响。(3)通过现实环境和来自学术界和工业界的世界级导师，为下一代人才的迫切教育做出重大贡献和影响。(4)我们的会议、论坛、会议和计划的培训课程将极大地促进和拓宽DL的研究和实体化。该项目旨在建立NSF I/UCR大学习中心（CBL）。随着多种挑战模式（如图像、视频、语音、文本和问答）的巨大突破，机器智能的复兴迫在眉睫。CBL的使命是通过CBL联盟的统一和协调努力，通过融合我们大量教师、学生和行业合作伙伴的广泛专业知识，引领大规模深度学习（DL）算法、系统和应用。CBL的愿景是创造智能驱动社会的智能推动者。CBL在以下关键研究主题上具有开创性的智力价值。(1)算法新颖。本主题侧重于新颖的深度学习算法和架构，如深度架构、复杂深度神经网络、大脑启发组件、优化、深度强化学习和无监督学习。(2)系统新颖。我们提出了新的架构、资源管理和软件框架，以支持桌面、移动设备、集群和云上的大规模深度学习平台和应用程序。(3)在健康、移动/物联网和监控领域的新应用。在计划阶段，我们将制定坚实的中心战略计划和营销计划，并建立由4个学术基地和大量行业成员组成的CBL财团。CBL具有以下更广泛的影响。(1)在开创性研究和应用方面为深度学习社区做出重大贡献和影响，以解决广泛的现实挑战。(2)为促进整个行业，特别是我们会员的产品和服务作出重大贡献和影响。(3)通过现实环境和来自学术界和工业界的世界级导师，为下一代人才的迫切教育做出重大贡献和影响。(4)我们的会议、论坛、会议和计划的培训课程将极大地促进和拓宽DL的研究和实体化。

This project proposes to establish the NSF I/UCR Center for Big Learning (CBL). The mission of CBL is to pioneer in large-scale deep learning algorithms, systems, and applications through unified and coordinated efforts in the CBL consortium. The vision of CBL is to create intelligence enablers towards intelligence-driven society. With the explosive big data generated from natural systems, engineered systems, and human activities, we need intelligent algorithms and systems to facilitate our decision making with distilled insights automatically at scale. The proposed CBL center is a timely initiative as our society moves towards intelligence-enabled world of opportunities. The CBL consortium is expected to become the magnet of deep learning research and applications and attract leading researchers, enthusiastic entrepreneurs, IT and industry giants working together on accomplishing the promising mission and vision. This planning grant will lead to a successful proposal for the establishment of the NSF I/UCR Center for Big Learning with a solid consortium across multiple campuses and a large number of industry partners. CBL has the following broader impacts. (1) Making significant contributions and impacts to the deep learning community on pioneering research and applications to address a broad spectrum of real-world challenges. (2) Making significant contributions and impacts to promote products and services of industry in general and our members in particular. (3) Making significant contributions and impacts to the urgently-needed education of our next-generation talents with real-world settings and world-class mentors from both academia and industry. (4) Our meetings, forums, conferences, and planned training sessions will greatly promote and broaden the research and materialization of DL. The proposed project aims to establish the NSF I/UCR Center for Big Learning (CBL). With dramatic breakthroughs in multiple modalities of challenges (e.g., image, video, speech, text, and Q&A), the renaissance of machine intelligence is looming.The mission of CBL is to pioneer in large-scale deep learning (DL) algorithms, systems, and applications through unified and coordinated efforts in the CBL consortium via fusion of broad expertise from our large number of faculty members, students, and industry partners. The vision of CBL is to create intelligence enablers towards intelligence-driven society. CBL possesses the pioneering intellectual merit in the following key research themes. (1) Novel algorithms. This theme focuses on novel DL algorithms and architectures, such as deep architecture, complex deep neural networks, brain-inspired components, optimization, deep reinforcement learning, and unsupervised learning. (2) Novel systems. We propose novel architectures, resource management, and software frameworks for enabling large-scale DL platforms and applications on desktops, mobiles, clusters, and clouds. (3) Novel applications in health, mobile/IoT, and surveillance. During the planning phase, we will establish a solid center strategic plan, marketing plan, and the CBL consortium that consists of four academic sites and a large number of industrial members. CBL has the following broader impacts. (1) Making significant contributions and impacts to the deep learning community on pioneering research and applications to address a broad spectrum of real-world challenges. (2) Making significant contributions and impacts to promote products and services of industry in general and our members in particular. (3) Making significant contributions and impacts to the urgently-needed education of our next-generation talents with real-world settings and world-class mentors from both academia and industry. (4) Our meetings, forums, conferences, and planned training sessions will greatly promote and broaden the research and materialization of DL.