Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (TIET) on July 5 announced the signing of an MOU and collaboration with NVIDIA in New Delhi to establish the Thapar School of Advanced AI & Data Science (TSAAI), with technical support from the NVIDIA AI University program at TIET’s campus, Patiala. TSAAI is certain to begin its journey this year with the first set of admissions after AICTE approvals.
According to the university officials, the infrastructure to support a full undergraduate AI degree program, AI mandatory/elective courses across all disciplines, technical training for faculty and staff, research collaborations, and establishment of an AI startup ecosystem powered by NVIDIA edge computing, will be ready around the time of the beginning of the 2024-25 semester (around October).
TSAAI has drawn plans to develop a new undergraduate engineering program in AI (B.E. in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) focused on building deep AI skills over four years. And, also offer AI elective courses across all programs to ensure all students are AI literate and all students of TIET will receive nine credits of AI training
Later, it will launch a Master’s Program in AI, ML, and DS targeting working professionals. Likewise, providing professional development courses for industry professionals seeking AI training is also on menu.
The to be launched school will train identified faculty in the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) Ambassador Program conduct DLI workshops for identified students and faculty members.
In addition, NVIDIA plans to extend the benefits of its Inception program to qualifying TIET-incubated AI startups.
Within a span of 2-4 years, TIET will make sure any student who is graduating will be “AI literate” by making required curriculum changes and additional requirements. First on the block is to initiate the Thapar Digital Twin project, followed by a number of mega interdisciplinary projects in areas ranging from food security, urban planning, healthcare, and cybersecurity to robotics and more.
TIET will set up state-of-the-art AI infrastructure leveraging NVIDIA DGX systems with NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs, NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs, and the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform for the development and deployment of generative AI. This dedicated data center will offer 227 petaflops of AI performance with nearly 8 terabytes of GPU memory. Apart from core accelerated computing infrastructure, TIET is setting up edge computing infrastructure with 500 Jetson Nano developer kits to build up the startup ecosystem, taking leaps forward to turn graduates into job creators rather than job seekers.
“We are excited about the opportunity to establish this AI school, in technical collaboration with NVIDIA,” said Dr. Padmakumar Nair, Director of Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology. “This work will not only bridge the gap in AI expertise but also pave the way for cutting-edge research and innovation in this transformative field. This also establishes our vision of providing education that creates future-ready students.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionize industries worldwide, driving innovation, reshaping the future of education, and changing lives. However, India faces a significant gap in AI expertise, highlighting the urgent need for skilled professionals in this field.
“As a key player in the global AI education initiative, Thapar Institute will integrate cutting-edge NVIDIA technologies to cultivate a new generation of AI experts across India,” said Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director of Asia South at NVIDIA. “The new AI school will help bridge the gap in AI expertise and pave the way for breakthrough research and innovation in the industry.”
