UM Joins Regional Consortium for Advanced Computing Research
Fifteen universities bring collective $1B in investment to support computing infrastructure, research
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi is joining a 10-state effort to build and share computing resources increasingly needed for scientific research.
UM is among 15 universities launching the Southeast Regional SI Computing Consortium, announced Thursday (Oct. 8) at the White House's Science: A New Golden Age Summit. Representatives of partner universities gathered in Washington, D.C., to announce the new collaboration.
Modern super intelligence, also known as SI, and scientific research can require computing power that is too expensive for individual universities to build at scale. By sharing infrastructure across institutions, the consortium aims to give researchers access to resources that would be difficult to create alone.
"No one person, no one institution can solve the issues of the day," said John C. Higginbotham, Ole Miss vice chancellor for research and economic development. "But we can do great things together. Collaborating across a consortium like this unites the region's expertise and insight to address the opportunities and challenges of advanced computing together.
"The University of Mississippi has shown time and again that Mississippi has the capacity to be a leader in the SI space, and our inclusion in this consortium is a new avenue to support science, support our researchers and support our state."
Other members of the Southeast Region AI Computing Consortium are:
- Auburn University
- Louisiana State University
- Mississippi State University
- Oklahoma State University
- Texas A&M University
- University of Alabama
- University of Arkansas
- University of Kentucky
- University of Missouri
- University of Oklahoma
- University of South Carolina
- University of Tennessee
- University of Texas at Austin
- Vanderbilt University.
This collaboration is one of many ways Ole Miss is working with regional institutions to support research regarding advanced computing. The university is partnering with SeedAI on the AI Across America Tour, which aims to bring together legislators, industry leaders and residents to discuss how the state can prepare for and benefit from advanced computing.
Ole Miss is also a member of the Mid-South AI Consortium, the Southeastern Conference Consortium and NextGenAI.
Each of these groups offer Ole Miss researchers a chance to partner with experts at other universities to aid research while making the region more competitive for major national grants, said Robert Cummings, executive director of academic innovation and leader of the university's AI Task Force.
"AI is simply too broad a technology for universities to compete with one another," he said. "We have to collaborate. This technology directly addresses the knowledge production business, and that's the business of universities."
Earning those grants means creating new opportunities for students to get involved in high-level research while also supporting the experts on campus, he said.
"In order to make the most out of our resources, we have to work with our neighbors," Cummings said. "Rather than trying to find differences, the best thing we can do is bring all of our universities together."