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FPGAs in the Era of AI and Big Data

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FPGAs in the Era of AI and Big Data

Register

by Lawrence Landis <lawrence.landis@intel.com>

102.B Student Computing Center, Texas A&M University
8:45AM – 5:00PM September 27th, 2019

Description:
Intel Programmable Logic Devices (FPGA) are used in a wide range of applications from industrial electronics, networking and AI acceleration. FPGAs are a staple of Electronic Engineering Curriculums due to their flexibility in describing electronic circuitry without requiring any semiconductor manufacturing tooling costs. Intel’s Programmable Solutions Group FPGA University Program engages with worldwide universities to promote FPGA education and research.

Learning Objectives:

  • At the conclusion of this workshop, you’ll have an understanding of how FPGAs function and common programming models used to implement a variety of FPGA based applications.
  • Register Transfer Language use model using the Verilog Hardware Description Language
  • Network on Chip and IP integration using the Platform Designer Integration tool
  • High Level Language Description through the use of C++ derivative languages like HLS and OpenCL
  • Overlay use models (OpenVino)
  • The student will gain the necessary skills to understand which applications should utilize which programming model to most efficiently balance development time, performance and cost.

Workshop Syllabus:

8:45 Registration
9:00: Lecture: FPGA applications and architecture, Quartus overview
10:00: Lab 1: Introduction to the Quartus Development Tool Suite using Verilog programming
11:15: Lecture: Embedded NIOS and Platform Designer
12:00: Lunch
1:00: Lab2: Embedded NIOS and Platform Designer
2:00: Lecture: High Level Design Usage Model for FPGAs – OpenCL and HLS
2:45: Lab3: High Level Design
3:30: Lecture: OpenVino overlay usage model
4:15: Lab4: OpenVino Vision and Neural Network Heterogeneous Computing
5:00 Conclude Workshop

Workshop Instructions:
The Quartus Lite free tool suite will be required for Labs 1 and 2. Please visit this site: http://fpgasoftware.intel.com/18.1/?edition=lite and install Quartus Prime and MAX 10 libraries.

COE-HPC Offers Special Topic Course on Data Science for Undergraduate Students

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With the support from the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, the Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing, and the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Dr. Jian Tao at COE-HPC will teach a special topic course – ECEN 489 section 504 (CRN 40958) to undergraduate students on various subjects in Data Science in Fall 2019.

The course introduces students to the computational practice of Data Science through a sequence of interactive modules that provide an integrated hands-on approach to its methods, tools, and applications, and supporting technologies including high performance and cloud computing platforms. These modules prepare students for a concurrent semester-long project involving real-world applications of Data Science. The course is aimed both at students who wish to acquire knowledge of Data Science by developing fluency in its applications, and also students with previous exposure to Data Science foundations who wish to develop complementary skills in the use of state of the art systems and tools.

More about the course can be found here.

NVIDIA DLI Deep Learning for Computer Vision Workshop @ Texas A&M University

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Description
The NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI), the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science, the Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing, and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station invite you to attend a hands-on deep learning workshop on September 7th, 2019 from 8:30AM to 5:00PM at the ILSB Auditorium exclusively for verifiable academic students, staff, and researchers. NVIDIA DLI offers hands-on training for developers, data scientists, and researchers looking to solve challenging problems with deep learning and accelerated computing.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of the workshop, you’ll have an understanding of the fundamentals of deep learning and be able to:

Implement common deep learning workflows, such as image classification and object detection

Experiment with data, training parameters, network structure, and other strategies to increase performance and capability of neural networks

Integrate and deploy neural networks in your own applications to start solving sophisticated real-world problems

Upon completion of this Lab, you will be able to implement deep learning to solve problems in the real world.

Workshop Outline

08:30 — Registration (refreshments & soft drinks)

09:00 — Introduction

Meet the instructor.

Create an account at courses.nvidia.com/join

09:15 — Unlocking New Capabilities

Learn the biological inspiration behind deep neural networks (DNNs).

Explore training DNNs with big data.

Train neural networks to perform image classification by harnessing the three main ingredients of deep learning: deep neural networks, big data, and the GPU.

10:00 — Break (refreshments & soft drinks)

10:15 — Unlocking New Capabilities and Measuring and Improving Performance

Deploy trained neural networks from their training environment into real applications.

Optimize DNN performance.

Incorporate object detection into your DNNs.

12:00 — Lunch (provided)

13:00 — Final Project

Validate learnings by applying the deep learning application development workflow (load dataset, train, and deploy model) to a new problem.

Learn how to set up your GPU-enabled environment to begin work on your own projects.

Explore additional project ideas and resources to get started with NVIDIA AMI in the cloud, nvidia-docker, and the NVIDIA DIGITS container.

15:00 — Break (refreshments & soft drinks)

15:15 — Final Review

Review key learnings and wrap up questions.

Complete the assessment to earn a certificate.

Take the workshop survey.

16:45 — Wrap-up

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with the basic programming, fundamentals such as functions and variables.

NVIDIA DLI Certification:

Through built-in assessments, participants can earn certification to prove subject matter competency and support professional career growth.

Workshop Setup Instructions:

1. Create an NVIDIA Developer account at http://courses.nvidia.com/join.

2. Make sure that WebSockets works for you:

Test your laptop at http://websocketstest.com

Under ENVIRONMENT, confirm that “WebSockets” is checked yes.

Under WEBSOCKETS (PORT 80), confirm that “Data Receive”, “Data Send”, and “Echo Test” are checked yes.

3. If there are issues with WebSockets, try updating your browser. We recommend Chrome, Firefox, or Safari for an optimal performance.

4. Once onsite, visit http://courses.nvidia.com/dli-event and enter the event code provided by the instructor.

Parking:

If you have a valid A&M parking permit, you can park in the “night and weekend authorized” lots.

http://transportmap.tamu.edu/parkingmap/tsmap.htm?map=naw

Texas A&M Institute of Data Science Research Affiliates Program and Survey

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TAMIDS is pleased to announce its Research Affiliates Program. The aim of the program is to increase internal and external visibility for Texas A&M Data Science researchers, and to involve them in developing and joining activities under the auspices of TAMIDS.

The TAMIDS Research Affiliates Program is open to all Texas A&M faculty (in tenure, professional, instructional, research, and other tracks), research scientists, postdoctoral researchers, and administration and operations staff and professionals, whose role and interests include Data Science. A separate affiliates program for graduate and undergraduate students will be announced later.

If you are interested in becoming a TAMIDS Research Affiliate, please complete the survey concerning interests in Data Science and TAMIDS activities at: forms.gle/kKeHwunUB6nvwvRB6

Information concerning affiliates will be added to the searchable listing at the TAMIDS website: https://tamids.tamu.edu/2019/06/21/tamids-research-affiliates/

Third Official Software Carpentry Workshop at TAMU (Shell, Git and Python)

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We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd official Software Carpentry two-day workshop at Texas A&M University. Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics (TxGen), TAMU High Performance Research Computing (HPRC), TAMU Libraries, TAMU Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Geology and Geophysics (GGE), and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) are collaborating to organize and hold this workshop.

This hands-on workshop is an introduction aimed at those with no previous experience, particularly graduate students, as well as faculty and researchers. Software Carpentry (SC) is a world renowned organization that was established in 1998 and teaches researchers the computing skills they need to get more done in less time and with less pain.

Attendees are required to bring their own laptops to fully benefit from the workshop.

Detailed information for the workshop:

Topics covered: Unix shell, Version Control with Git, Python Programming

Date: August 15-16, 2019

Instructors: Drs. Noushin Ghaffari (nghaffari@tamu.edu), Ramalingam Saravanan (sarava@tamu.edu) , David Bapst (dwbapst@tamu.edu), and Shichen Wang (shichen.wang@ag.tamu.edu)

Helpers: Dr. Jian Tao, (anyone who is interested to join us as a helper can contact Dr. David Bapst for more information. Being a helper in an official SCW is a requirement for becoming a Software Carpentry instructor.)

Where: Annex Library, Room # 405

Fee: $40 + Eventbrite fees

Registration link: https://bit.ly/2JBOl7k
Workshop webpage: https://tamu-carpentry.github.io/2019-08-15-TAMU/

NOTE: if you have any dietary preferences/restrictions please email us at least one week before the workshop.

Lunch, coffee and snacks will be provided. If you have any dietary preferences or restrictions, please let us know at least one week before the workshop.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Make sure to include ALL the instructors in your email.

Best,
TAMU Software Carpentry Team

Instructor Bio:

Dr. Noushin Ghaffari is a senior member of bioinformatics team at Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics (TxGen), where she is involved in various projects from planning experiments to data analysis. She provides training for Texas A&M faculty/students/researchers on high performance computing, data analysis, bioinformatics and R programming. She is also a Research Scientist at TAMU HPRC.

Dr. Ramalingam Saravanan is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. He carries out research using supercomputers to run numerical models of weather and climate. He has contributed to open source software and has also been teaching Python to meteorology majors for over five years.

Dr. David Bapst, is an Assistant Instructional Professor in the department of Geology & Geophysics. David’s research focuses on quantitative analyses of the deep-time fossil record, a topic which has accidentally made a paleontologist into an avid R developer. He loves sharing his code with collaborators and the public via git and GitHub, and he hopes you will too.

Dr. Shichen Wang is a Bioinformatics Scientist in the AgriLife Research Genomics and Bioinformatics Service unit (TXGEN). His research focuses on high-throughput sequencing data analysis.

Linux, Bash, Awk, and Sed Workshops Next week (July 15 & July 19)

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Linux, Bash, Awk and Sed Workshops

Offered by the Laboratory for Molecular Simulation and High Performance Research Computing
Cost: Free

Introduction to Command-line Linux: cover the basics of working command-line with hands-on exercises.

Monday July 15: 1:00 – 2:00 pm
or
Friday July 19: 9:00 – 10:00 am

Introduction to Bash, Awk, and Sed: covers the basics of bash scripting and the data manipulation utilities Awk and Sed, including hands-on exercises.

Monday July 15: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
or
Friday July 19: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Click here to register

Texas A&M Data Science Bootcamp

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Description

Texas A&M Institute of Data Science, Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing, and Texas Engineering Experiment Station invite you to attend a two-day hands-on data science camp on Augest 19 and 20, 2019. This camp is to introduce the fundamentals of data science to students and researchers from Texas A&M University, Blinn College, and Minority Serving Institutions in Texas.

Place: ILSB auditorium

Time: 8:30AM – 5:00PM Aug 19 – Aug 20

Registration:

There is a $40 registration fee (plus Eventbrite fee) to cover the breakfast, refreshments, and lunch for two days. Travel and accomendation are on your own.

In order to encourage more students from Minority Serving Institutions in Texas to pursue tech positions and career growth, the registration charge will be $20 (plus Eventbrite fee) for students from Texas Minority Serving Institutions (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst-list-tab.html).

Refund Policy:

You can cancel the registration and receive refund on or before Aug 12th (a week before the bootcamp).

Prerequisites:

Familiarity with the basic programming, fundamentals such as functions and variables.

You are encouraged to attend the 3rd Software Carpentry Workshop at Texas A&M on Aug 15-16 to learn some basic research computing skills before the data science bootcamp.

https://tamu-carpentry.github.io/2019-08-15-TAMU/

Agenda:

Day one (Aug 19):

08:30 – Registration and breakfast

09:00 – Introduction to Data Science – Part I (lecture)

10:20 – Break (refreshments)

10:30 – Introduction to Data Science – Part II (lecture)

12:00 – Lunch (provided)

13:00 – Introduction to Python for Data Scientists (lecture)

14:50 – Break (refreshments)

15:00 – Data Analysis with Pandas and Numpy (hands-on lab)

16:30 – Wrap-up

Day two (Aug 20):

08:30 – Registration and breakfast

09:00 – Data exploration and visualization – Part I (lecture + hands-on lab)

10:20 – Break (refreshments)

10:30 – Data exploration and visualization – Part II (lecture + hands-on lab)

12:00 – Lunch (provided)

13:00 – Machine learning with Scikit-learn – Part I (lecture + hands-on lab)

14:50 – Break (refreshments)

15:00 – Machine learning with Scikit-learn – Part II (lecture + hands-on lab)

16:30 – Wrap-up

Workshop Instructions:

1. Please bring your own laptop.

2. Make sure that WebSockets works on your laptop:

  • Test your laptop at http://websocketstest.com
  • Under ENVIRONMENT, confirm that “WebSockets” is checked yes.
  • Under WEBSOCKETS (PORT 443), confirm that “Data Receive,” “Send,” and “Echo Test” are checked yes.

Parking:

If you are driving, please refer to the instructions on the Texas A&M Transportation Services website for the details about the parking for visitors.

http://transport.tamu.edu/Parking/visitor.aspx

This data science camp is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1925764.

This data science camp is brought to you by:

TEXAS A&M RESEARCH COMPUTING SYMPOSIUM

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https://hprc.tamu.edu/events/usermeetings/RCSymposium2019/

Dates: May 13-17, 2019
Location: Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building, Texas A&M Main Campus, College Station, TX
Contact us at (979) 458-8414 or help@hprc.tamu.edu

Texas A&M University High Performance Research Computing is hosting a two day series of talks and three days of workshops on May 13-17, 2019 to showcase the A&M community’s work in computing and data-intensive research. Topics covered will include:

  • Applications of High Performance Computing to solve real-world problems
  • Exascale computing at the frontiers of science
  • Cloud computing for scientific research
  • Novel hardware and software for advanced computing

Keynote talks will be given by Irene Qualters, Associate Laboratory Director, Simulation & Computation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Deputy Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. In addition to local and national speakers, training workshops will be offered on computational tools for research. A reception and poster session is planned for late Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to talks by leading national and local computational scientists, some very exciting workshops on these and other topics are scheduled:

  • Getting up to speed on the Google Cloud Platform
  • Advanced use of the Abaqus Finite Element modeling and simulation package
  • Classical and Quantum Mechanics modeling of chemical and biological systems
  • Using the IBM PowerAI and PowerAI Vision packages for developing deep learning applications
  • Long-Read Sequencing Technologies and Sequence Analysis
  • Computing with the R statistics package; and Web access to HPRC supercomputers

A Reception and Poster/Demonstration Session are planned for late Wednesday afternoon.  Please plan to attend!

Introduction to Google Cloud Platform (Webinar)

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Texas A&M Institute of Data Science invites you to attend a webinar on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) on March 20th, 2019 from 10:30AM to 11:30AM. This webinar is to help you understand the overall landscape of GCP. You’ll take a brief look at some of the commonly used features that GCP has to offer. Texas A&M attendees will be given $100 of GCP credits for free. The webinar link will be sent via email before the event.

Presenter: Jaclyn Rosenthal is a junior Management Information Systems and Business Honors Student, minoring in Cyber Security and Economics at Texas A&M University. For the past year, Jaclyn has served as a Google Cloud Platform Student Innovator. In this role, Jaclyn introduces students, faculty, and staff to GCP, and hosts events to further teach them how to utilize the platform.

Register Now!

Kick-starting Bring-Your-Own-Data (BYOD) Workshop

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The Texas A&M Institute of Data Science (TAMIDS), Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing (HPRC), and Texas Engineering Experiment Station invite you to join our Bring-Your-Own-Data (BYOD) workshop! The primary goal of this workshop is to help Aggie researchers take advantage of the latest data analytics technologies and Texas A&M high performance computing facilities to speed up various data science projects. This is a FREE service offered to all researchers at Texas A&M.

Time: February 12 – April 30, 2019 Tuesdays.
Location: 235-I Wisenbaker Engineering Building, 188 Bizzell St, College Station, Texas 77843

Please note that this is NOT a training session, but more in forms of a code development working meeting focusing exclusively on your project with a goal to overcome techinical hurdles you may have to move forward with your data science projects. Given the limited time and resources available to offer this workshop, you must be prepared with a determined mind to create substantial progress. We can only work on the software applications that you write and plan to maintain yourself or the applications that are built on top of an open source platform.

You are advised to bring your own laptop, but it is not required as long as you provide means to share your data with us at the workshop. Please feel free to contact the organizers if you have any questions or comments.

More about the BYOD workshop can be found here.