UNNC & NVIDIA establish joint-lab on mixed reality (Visualisation and AI)

A Memorandum of Intent between UNNC and US technology giant NVIDIA to establish a Joint-Lab was signed at a ceremony on campus on 27th June.

The MoI and the Joint-Lab, led by Dr Eugene Ch’ng, Associate Professor in Computer Science, is the culmination of collaborative research at UNNC School of Computer Science’s Big Data and Visual Analytics lab. Together with Simon See, Chief Technology Officer of NVIDIA APAC, Dr. Ch’ng’s work has produced a number of important publications and research ideas.

Professor Chris Rudd, Provost of UNNC and Ashok Pandey, Vice-President of NVIDIA and GM of Professional Solution Group & Cloud Computing signed the agreement.
Those representing UNNC at the signing were Uwe Aickelin (Vice Provost forTeaching and Learning), Michael George (Vice Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange), Edward Wu (Director of Campus Services) and Harry Hua (Director of IT).

NVIDIA was represented by Simon See (Chief Technology Officer of NVIDIA APAC ),Sengmeng Koo (Programme Manager for NTC Singapore), David Yuan (Higher
Education & Research Industry Business Development Director NVIDIA China) and Rita Zhang (Solution Architect & Deep Learning Community Manager, NVIDIA China).

James Lin, Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s HPC Centre – who delivered a speech and a lecture at the event - will be the Joint-Lab’s supporting partner in the MoI.

The agreement will provide a number of direct boosts to various research projects at the University. One such project is the €2.5m ERC “Lost Frontiers” Advanced Research Grant, which will use NVIDIA GPU-acceleration for DNA sequencing, complex systems simulation and visualization for reconstructing the land bridge that connected Britain and Europe some 12,000 years ago.

Other projects to benefit include crowdsourcing reconstructions of heritage sites and monuments, using big data to understand social networks, and deep learning for real-world applications.

The UNNC-NVIDIA agreement also has numerous benefits for research, knowledge exchange and industrialisation at the University, including talent cultivation and training in Big Data, Machine Learning, Visualisation and VR. One such beneficiary is International Doctoral Innovation Centre PhD student Mengdi Li, who recently started an internship at NVIDIA. Another group of five computer science students are presently taking mentorships in Deep Learning techniques.

UNNC Provost, Prof. Chris Rudd said of the agreement: “The NVIDIA partnership exemplifies how UNNC can exploit industry links not only to solve real-world problems but also to provide a first class training environment for our students. Partnerships like this depend upon people and I am proud that we have such talented and committed researchers who recognise the value of these win-win partnerships and are prepared to put in the hard work and team building that will deliver long term success."

Simon See, Chief Technology Officer of NVIDIA APAC  said: “Mixed reality and artificial intelligence are starting an upsurge around the world. NVIDIA's advanced GPU technology and integral software platforms have promoted a great number of innovative technologies and applications in multiple industrial and commercial fields. NVIDIA and UNNC enjoy a shared vision in these areas.”

Dr Eugene Ch’ng, director of the NVIDIA joint-lab on Mixed Reality, sees bright prospects for UNNC research and student cultivation: "NVIDIA's global lead in GPU-accelerated computing and visualisation will ensure that all our projects are powered by advanced technology for the best research output. With Simon See to co-direct the lab, the bright future for Big Data, AI and mixed reality research is assured”.

Since 1993, NVIDIA has pioneered the art and science of visual computing. With its singular focus, the company offers specialised platforms for the gaming, automotive, data centre and professional visualisation markets. Its products, services and software power new experiences in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and autonomous cars.