UT San Antonio is launching the nation’s first open-access neuromorphic computing hub, making cutting edge, brain-inspired computing technology broadly available to researchers nationwide. The new computing lab is a specialized research facility that is dedicated to designing computer software and hardware that mimics the human brain.
The National Science Foundation funded the THOR initiative. The THOR initiative aims to allow researchers to request, co-develop, deploy and evaluate neuromorphic experiments on a heterogeneous computing system. The new hub is an open access large-scale neuromorphic research facility
THOR was brought by the joint efforts of research partners from across the country, including Co-Principal Investigators Catherine Schuman Ph.D. and Gert Cauwenberghs Ph.D., Lead Engineer Tej Pandit Ph.D., Senior Personnel Vijay Janapa Reddi Ph.D. and Neuromorphic Algorithm Contributor William Severa Ph.D.
Pandit, who is also an artificial intelligence research scientist for MATRIX AI Consortium, provided information about THOR’s development and detailed the neuromorphic computing lab and its impact on UT San Antonio.
“Neuromorphic computing is a branch of artificial intelligence, or you can think of it as a precursor to artificial intelligence where we actually study the brain, and its capabilities and its processes, and try to figure out exactly what makes the brain special in its method of learning and figuring out the world around it,” Pandit said. “We try to abstract and recreate these processes inside commercial technology, or we try to build our own hardware to recreate these processes.”
In the context of those who may be familiar with software similar to the neuromorphic computing hub, Pandit explained the possibilities that can be explored with the THOR initiative.
“THOR is an open access research infrastructure for neuromorphic computing, so those who are already familiar with the technology can apply for access directly from the THOR website. For students looking to get into neuromorphic computing, we offer a course at UTSA taught by Dr. Dhireesha Kudithipudi,” Pandit detailed.
Furthermore, Pandit discussed how the lab can be an opportunity for researchers to visit the computing platform for their project initiatives.
“What we’re hoping for is to bring together all these researchers so that they can have one common computing platform and also promote inter-framework research so that they can communicate and exchange models between each other,” Pandit said. “So it brings together neuromorphic building space rather than splits it up even further.”
The official launch of THOR is slated for Feb. 23 in the UT San Antonio San Pedro I building, with plans of a live demonstration to showcase the hardware’s capabilities.
Researchers and students interested in accessing the system or attending upcoming workshops can learn more via the project’s website, neuromorphiccommons.com.
