NVIDIA DGX-1 deep learning supercomputer wins over Singapore universities

The NVIDIA DGX-1 deep learning supercomputer has been making inroads at universities in Singapore. Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have deployed the machine for research on artificial intelligence (AI). The two academic institutions join Singapore Management University (SMU), which was the first organisation in Singapore and Southeast Asia to deploy the NVIDIA DGX-1 in November 2016.

Built on NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPUs that use the Pascal GPU architecture, the NVIDIA DGX-1 is the world’s first deep learning supercomputer to meet the computing demands of AI. It enables researchers and data scientists to easily harness the power of GPU-accelerated computing to create a new class of computers that learn, see and perceive the world as humans do.

SUTD will use the DGX-1 at the SUTD Brain Lab to further research into machine reasoning and distributed learning. Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this month, NVIDIA and SUTD will also set up the NVIDIA-SUTD AI Lab to leverage the power of GPU-accelerated neural networks for researching new theories and algorithms for AI. The agreement also provides for internship opportunities to selected students of the lab.

"Computational power is a game changer for AI research, especially in the areas of big data analytics, robotics, machine reasoning and distributed intelligence. The DGX-1 will enable us to perform significantly more experiments in the same period of time, quickening the discovery of new theories and the design of new applications,” said Professors Shaowei Lin and Georgios Piliouras, Engineering Systems and Design, SUTD.

At NTU, the DGX-1 system will increase the compute capability of the Rapid-Rich Object Search (ROSE) Lab, which is the NVIDIA Technology Centre’s first joint lab partner in Singapore. The ROSE Lab conducts research in intelligent video analytics and visual computing, and intends to use the additional compute power provided by DGX-1 to take on larger scale deep learning projects, such as those potentially seen in smart city projects.

“The ROSE Lab is seeing greater interest in machine learning and, in particular, deep learning applications from our industry and government partners. As the lab takes on projects with larger image datasets, the ability to significantly accelerate training processes would be most helpful,” said Dr Dennis Sng, Deputy Director and Principal Scientist at NTU’s ROSE Lab.

SMU is using the supercomputer at the Living Analytics Research Center (LARC) to conduct AI research projects for Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.

“Demand for fast computing services is on the rise and fast exceeding that which is available in Singapore. With their own DGX-1 systems, SUTD, NTU and SMU have dedicated best-in-class supercomputers to do their research work without having to compete for processing resources,” said Raymond Teh, VP of sales and marketing for Asia Pacific, NVIDIA.