America’s NVIDIA sets up research cluster in Thailand

American technology firm NVIDIA is setting up a research cluster for artificial intelligence in northern Thailand in partnership with a Thai-American university, an investment that will help advance the Kingdom’s high-tech development.

California-based NVIDIA revolutionized computer graphics and gaming with its graphics processing units (GPUs) in the 1990s. Today, it is involved in deep learning, robotics, and self-driving cars, among other cutting-edge technologies. It will partner with CMKL University, a collaborative higher learning center of King Mongkut Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh.

“The platform that we are developing will allow researchers to store and manage their datasets with ease. They will be able to exchange their data with other researchers and utilize the cloud infrastructure to run machine learning codes and models at lightning speeds,” said Akkarit Sangpetch, Program Director at CMKL University.

The university said that the research cluster would help develop new approaches to food, agriculture, healthcare, and smart cities, among other endeavors. It would also accelerate the competencies of Thai researchers, engineers and scientists through the sharing of information and methods.

While these types of higher-technology projects are usually located in the advanced development zone Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) adjacent to Bangkok, establishing the research center in the north would help expand the footprint for innovation further afield within the Kingdom and provide wider opportunities.

“This platform will accelerate Artificial Intelligence (AI) work in various research and development fields to create substantial positive impacts on society,” Akkarit said. “Examples are an increase in quality of life in cities through better management and logistics; better optimization of circular economy infrastructure, consumer insights, and biomedical research; and an increase in both quality and quantity of crop yields countrywide.”

Photo courtesy of https://www.ece.cmu.edu/news-and-events/story/2019/06/transforming-ideas-into-reality-in-tech-spark.html