EPCC at the Digital Frontiers Showcase

This event, organised by Edinburgh Innovations, promoted the excellent work being done to keep the University of Edinburgh at the forefront of digital research in fields as topical as quantum computing and natural language processing, and as novel as unconventional AI hardware technologies and bio-inspired engineering. EPCC and the Data Slipstream project were invited as exhibitors to showcase our collaborations with industry at the digital frontier.

Julien, EPCC's Commercial Manager, spoke to visitors about our solutions for industry, from on-demand HPC to software services, and about EPCC's excellent research into evaluating and reducing the environmental impact of HPC, while Dave, an Applications Consultant in Data Science, engaged with members of industry and academia about the Data Slipstream project.

Data Slipstream is working to streamline the process of bringing Earth Observation data and compute services to researchers, students, and decision makers, with a key aim of facilitating climate change mitigation. Visitors were particularly interested in how this project addresses problems in accessing disparate sources for data, and locating powerful enough computing systems to achieve their goals. One remarked that EPCC's goal of doing HPC and data sustainably made our services extremely attractive to their company.

The Showcase was followed by the annual Industry Dinner. Every year, as a token of gratitude towards our industrial collaborators, the University of Edinburgh's College of Science and Engineering hosts a dinner in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland. Eating among ancient statues and prototypes of lighthouses is an extraordinary experience, and one of the highlights of the year. Following from last year's dinner with a somewhat reduced number of attendees, this felt like a return to pre-Covid times, and it was great to catch up with industrial and academic collaborators. From our conversations, we're hopeful that this dinner will lead to renewed collaborations and to new projects.

We would like to thank Edinburgh Innovation for organising the Showcase and are eagerly awaiting an invitation to next year's event!

The Digital Frontiers Showcase

The showcase consisted of talks and panel discussions with the University’s world leading experts in data science and digital technologies including AI, quantum computing, robotics, and novel chip architecture.

The programme provided a realistic roadmap for some of the profound long-term impacts that innovative research may bring for businesses and society. It also covered some of the novel solutions and capabilities that will be deployed in the near term to transform our approaches to the climate crisis and fundamental challenges in health and healthcare.

Links

Videos of highlights of the event.

To find out more about our services for industry, contact Julien Sindt, or see the Industry Solutions section of our website.