Western New England University (WNE) recently welcomed a distinguished team from Lambda, a renowned provider of cutting-edge computational solutions based in San Jose, CA. The occasion celebrated the installation of Lambda's impressive Echelon cluster hardware, a million-dollar AI supercomputer that now resides in the heart of the WNE FinTech Incubator.
The supercomputer features 16 NVIDIA A100 GPUs, 740 AMD EPYC CPUs, a VAST storage system with a capacity of up to 1.5 petabytes, a 100Gb network fabric, and the Run:AI platform for resource management and optimization. The development of AI/ML models on the supercomputer uses the Lambda Stack which provides full support for PyTorch®, TensorFlow, CUDA, cuDNN, and NVIDIA Drivers. This substantial addition to the University's technological collection has been made possible through a $1.37 million grant from the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
The WNE FinTech Incubator, led by Dr. Charles Mutigwe, associate professor of Business Analytics and Information Management, is set to play a pivotal role in advancing the FinTech ecosystem in Massachusetts through several key functions including FinTech workforce development, support to local FinTech start-up initiatives, and through the development of industry partnerships.
"The introduction of the Lambda Echelon HPC cluster marks a significant enhancement of WNE's capabilities, providing our students with exceptional opportunities for hands-on learning and the chance to work with cutting-edge technology that directly applies to real-world applications," said College of Business Dean Sharianne Walker. "The clusters offer outstanding performance, enabling our students to tackle complex computational tasks, including AI and deep learning training, with ease."
"The Incubator will prepare WNE students for careers in AI/ML and FinTech through hands-on classes and the provision of financial market datasets for capstone/research projects. It will host local events, collaborate with local start-ups, and work on pre-commercialization projects. The Incubator will engage with industry partners on sponsored research in the FinTech space, expanding the application of FinTech to various sectors," said Mutigwe. "This addition provides a significant boost to the University"s capabilities in AI and machine learning (ML) workloads."
Lambda, recognized for its innovative computational solutions, serves prestigious clients and institutions worldwide. With an accomplished team of Deep Learning engineers, Lambda is renowned for creating the world's most advanced GPU cloud, clusters, servers, and workstations. Lambda's exceptional products empower engineers and researchers at the forefront of human knowledge and understanding.
The introduction of Lambda's Echelon HPC cluster aligns perfectly with WNE's mission to prepare students as work-ready and world-ready graduates, equipping them with the skills to excel in the dynamic field of technology.
