Colorado State University has been named a GPU Education Center by NVIDIA, the world leader in visual computing.

GPU (graphics processing unit) Education Centers are recognized institutions that have integrated GPU-accelerated computing into their mainstream science and engineering curriculum. GPU-accelerated computing leverages the parallel processing capabilities of GPU accelerators and enabling software to deliver dramatic increases in performance for scientific, artificial intelligence, machine learning, graphics, engineering, and other demanding applications.

Committed to parallel programming education

CSU was recognized for its commitment to advancing the state of parallel programming education. CSU currently offers opportunities for students to program GPUs in computer science undergraduate and graduate-level courses, as well as training graduate-level researchers from across campus. These courses span introduction to parallel computing, machine learning, and high-performance computing for domain scientists.

“NVIDIA’s support of Colorado State University helps us give students access to the latest hardware. This is a cutting-edge technology that allows students to learn a new language and a new way of thinking about parallel computing. NVIDIA has also provided resources that allow us to offer more one-on-one learning in the classroom and the lab,” said Darrell Whitley, chair of the Department of Computer Science at Colorado State University.

Cathie Olschanowsky, principal investigator for the NVIDIA award, stated: “Having access to state-of-the-art GPU technology has already sparked a new research collaboration within the computer science department.  We are starting our GPU educational units, and all of the students in Introduction to Parallel Computing will have access to GPU technology.”

Expanding and improving courses

This designation will help CSU expand and improve the GPU portion of Introduction to Parallel Computing (CS475) and hardware for High Performance Computing and Visualization (CS510), Machine Learning (CS545), and Advanced Parallel Processing (CS575). The award also includes supplies available for use in computer science courses and research projects.

“Colorado State University recognizes the importance of bringing accelerated computing to computer science and scientific computing classrooms, providing students and researchers with new skills in exciting areas, such as machine learning and high performance computing,” said Kimberly Powell, director of Higher Education at NVIDIA. “We look forward to working with Colorado State University to prepare the next generation of engineers and domain scientists.”

Access to hardware, training

As a GPU Education Center, Colorado State University will have access to NVIDIA GPU hardware and software, and NVIDIA parallel programming experts and resources, including educational webinars and an array of teaching materials. Colorado State University students and faculty also receive access to free GPU programming training at nvidia.qwiklab.com. The comprehensive, self-paced training spans introductory to expert level coursework on a range of GPU programming languages, applications, libraries, programming models and tools. GPU Education Centers were formerly known as CUDA Teaching Centers.