The MATRIX AI Consortium at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund The Neuromorphic Commons (THOR) project. As part of this multi-university initiative, the THOR project offers researchers access to a first-of-its-kind large-scale neuromorphic computing system.
The core team of researchers driving this interdisciplinary collaborative effort includes:
1.) Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Principal Investigator, University of Texas at San Antonio
2.) Catherine Schuman, Co-Principal Investigator, University of Tennessee Knoxville
3.) Gert Cauwenberghs, Co-Principal Investigator, University of California San Diego; and
4.) Vijay Janapa Reddi, Senior Personnel, Harvard University
THOR is expected to transform algorithm design, hardware and software co-design, and neuromorphic applications, similar in scale to the impact seen when high-performance computing systems became accessible to the engineering research community. And THOR will be accessible to diverse research communities, including computational neuroscience, life sciences, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and physics.
The THOR team will additionally develop training and educational materials covering the fundamentals of neuromorphic learning algorithms and systems. All resources will be available through open platforms to researchers, facilitating integration into both undergraduate and graduate curricula.
KEY QUOTES:
“We plan to design a national hub for open access large scale neuromorphic platforms, through close-knit industry partnerships. The field is at a pivotal moment and ensuring access to a broader group of researchers is critical at this stage. This initiative reflects a community-driven approach, shaping a framework designed by and for the community.”
- Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Principal Investigator at the University of Texas at San Antonio
“Building and teaching common tools is necessary to see further innovation in the field.”
- Catherine Schuman, Co-Principal Investigator from University of Tennessee Knoxville
“THOR will give users direct access to a range of powerful neuromorphic hardware modeling and emulating brain function at unprecedented scale.”
- Gert Cauwenberghs, Co-Principal Investigator from University of California San Diego
“This award is crucial in advancing NSF’s mission to drive innovation and broadening access to research resources. By making bio-inspired computing resources available to a wider community of researchers in computer science, neuroscience, and computational physics, this project will contribute to democratizing access to advanced tools and fostering breakthroughs in energy-efficient, resilient AI through neuromorphic computing.”
- NSF Program Director Andrey Kanaev
