Dell teams up with CIT for artificial intelligence platform

Tech company provides supercomputer for institute

President of CIT Dr Barry O’Connor; Dr Ted Scully, Dept of Computer Science; Michael Loftus, vice president for external affairs CIT; Dr Donna O’Shea, Department of Computer Science; Dr Seán McSweeney, Department of Computer Science; Tim Horgan, Department of Computing Science; and Bob Savage, vice-president, Dell Technologies and chair of CIT’s Governing Body at the CIT Bishopstown campus. Photograph:  Darragh Kane
President of CIT Dr Barry O’Connor; Dr Ted Scully, Dept of Computer Science; Michael Loftus, vice president for external affairs CIT; Dr Donna O’Shea, Department of Computer Science; Dr Seán McSweeney, Department of Computer Science; Tim Horgan, Department of Computing Science; and Bob Savage, vice-president, Dell Technologies and chair of CIT’s Governing Body at the CIT Bishopstown campus. Photograph: Darragh Kane

Dell has teamed up with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) on a new artificial intelligence platform, with the technology company providing a new supercomputer to the institute.

The AI platform will help the college keep up with advancements in AI, data analytics and machine learning. Students and researchers will have access to the platform, speeding up research projects, allowing students to build state of the art technology and providing real-time insights into data sets.

Supported by a grant from the the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the new AI project will give CIT a platform to produce world-class models.

“In 2019, CIT secured €15.4 million in research funding. The provision of this key computing infrastructure enables CIT researchers, and our many academic and industry collaborators, to develop innovative solutions to problems in almost any domain including ICT, agritech, maritime, and space,” said CIT’s head of research, Dr Niall Smith. “Taking advantage of the considerable expertise of the CIT research community in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, our partners will be supported in their research and development, irrespective of their competency in high-performance computing.”

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The platform will also be available to postgraduate students in the MSc in Artificial Intelligence.

“The provision of sufficient computing power is a critical enabler of modern AI. Students in the MSc in AI can leverage the new platform to build highly complex state-of-the-art AI models,” said Dr Ted Scully, the programme coordinator for CIT’s MSc in Artificial Intelligence.

Managing director of Dell Technologies Ireland Jason Ward said the company was looking forward to seeing the innovations that were enabled by the ai platfomr in the coming years.

“We’re delighted to be working with one of Ireland’s most forward thinking third level colleges to help power their research capabilities that in time will transform the way we live, work and do business,” said Mr Ward. “Our teams have worked closely with the team at CIT to better understand their needs and put in place a high-performance computing solution that can drive more accurate research results and prepare for our AI-enabled future.”