ASU achieves Dell Technologies ‘HPC and AI Center of Excellence’

Arizona State University has added to its international reputation for innovation, being named a Dell Technologies High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence. This recognition provides ASU with access to a worldwide program that facilitates the exchange of ideas among researchers, computer scientists, technologists and engineers for the advancement of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence solutions.

ASU joins just eight other such centers around the world: Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas, Austin; San Diego Supercomputing Center at the University of California, San Diego; Cambridge Dell Intel Centre at the University of Cambridge (England); High Performance Computing & Cloud Competence Center at the University of Pisa (Italy); Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation for AI (China); Monasch University eResearch Centre (Australia); the Centre for High Performance Computing in South Africa; and Supercomputing Wales.

“This demonstrates ASU’s commitment and expertise to collaboratively solving global challenges,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, executive vice president of the ASU Knowledge Enterprise and the university’s chief research and innovation officer. “As we look to the future, it is clear that an innovative, entrepreneurial, adaptable mindset will be critical to how we live, learn and work. This collaboration with Dell Technologies will accelerate our momentum in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence and will also expand research, education and scholarly opportunities for faculty and students.”

The benefits available to ASU through its “Center of Excellence” designation include:

• Knowledge sharing with Dell Technologies experts and the other centers’ researchers and executive leaders on industry grand challenges.
• Early opportunities to work with emerging HPC and AI resources.
• Access to Dell Technologies’ HPC and AI Innovation Lab in Austin, Texas, for ASU faculty, staff and students.
• The availability of Dell Technologies’ top experts to work with ASU researchers on proposals and publications.
• An on-site Dell Technologies presence at SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center.

“High-performance computing and artificial intelligence continue to pave the way in research, bringing us closer to new discoveries, solutions and breakthroughs,” said Thierry Pellegrino, vice president of HPC at Dell Technologies. “Joining our network of HPC and AI Centers of Excellence, we look forward to supporting the research and learning being done by faculty, students and staff at ASU.”

“This designation is a tremendous opportunity to support new research at the intersection of science, technology and society — for the public good,” said Sean Dudley, assistant vice president for research technology at ASU. “We are an inclusive organization. This allows faculty and student researchers the chance to work and explore across disciplines. For a university such as ours, one without research boundaries, this inclusion offers an important opportunity to develop new computational frameworks and approaches that can be transported and shared with others, for the benefit of all.”

ASU’s status as a Dell Technologies Center of Excellence will also lead the way to new and expanded university services. Kickoff projects are underway, such as integration of ASU with the Jetstream project and a new Arizona Secure Research Environment, which allows ASU to perform highly secure and highly scalable research with its partners around the state and surrounding region.

“ASU’s mission materially guides our efforts, and calls for us to aim for and reach the stars,” said Dudley. “This is what I like about being at ASU — we have the chance to explore significant challenges and develop solutions that benefit humanity, with support from incredible faculty and partnerships with unique organizations.”