The AI Innovation Consortium (AIIC) is hosting Evolve 2021, a two-day artificial intelligence (AI) conference and symposium on Thursday, August 12th and Friday, August 13th. The event will be hybrid, with both virtual and in-person sessions at the University of Houston College of Technology in Sugarland, Texas.
The conference will focus on the power of AI and how it’s transforming industry. Top organizations will share their experiences with AI, leading AI companies will reveal their latest advancements, and academia will speak on their related research and development.
This event features thought leaders from Fortune 500 organizations in oil & gas, manufacturing, life sciences, information technology, and universities from across North America. Speakers and panelists represent such companies as Amazon Web Services (AWS), NVIDIA, Microsoft, Siemens Digital Industries Software, ExxonMobil, W.L. Gore and universities like Penn State University, University of Louisville (UofL), and the host of the event, University of Houston (UofH).
“It will be an unprecedented gathering of industry,” said AIIC Chairperson, Konrad Konarski. “We are all here together moving collectively into the future with AI.”
NVIDIA is supporting member organizations of the AI consortium by providing access to NVIDIA expertise and accelerated computing technology -that are essential to AI and machine learning development. Jerry Chen, Head of Global Business Development for Manufacturing & Industrials at NVIDIA, and Marc Spieler, Global Energy Director for NVIDIA, will be amongst the speakers featured at Evolve 2021.
“We look forward to joining the AI Consortium in their efforts to educate the industry on the benefits of accelerated computing and AI through their digital, AI-enabled oilfield and events such as Evolve 2021,” said Spieler.
Recently, as part of its collaboration, NVIDIA and VAST Storage provided the AI consortium and the University of Houston with an NVIDIA DGX system, an advanced AI computer that can process huge datasets and train AI models in a fraction of the time compared to traditional infrastructure, with VAST Universal Storage providing the highest performance available today. Attendees of the Evolve 2021 workshops will get a chance to see this powerful AI system in action during a live demonstration. NVIDIA is also providing NVIDIA Jetson Nano Developer kits for attendee use.
One of the founding members of the consortium is Kris Skrinak, Global Segment Leader of Machine Learning for Amazon Web Services (AWS). He has been actively working with the group for the past 3 years and was part of the inaugural event in 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. This year he will share a compelling presentation on how the AWS artificial intelligence cloud services are transforming industry as well as providing an exclusive workshop where participants will be able to ‘bring their own data’ and use AI to transform it in real time.
“I am a strong advocate of what the AI Consortium has been doing to support industry and academia collaboration. I am glad to continue to be a part of its efforts and the upcoming event,” said Skrinak.
Joining these leading technology companies will be presenters from Fortune 1000 organizations that are actively using and exploring the application of AI. Guillermo Romero, Manufacturing Manager at Vallourec S.A., is currently collaborating with the AIIC. His panel participation at the event will be one of many industry-specific discussions that will also include oil & gas, manufacturing, life-sciences, and other verticals.
“We are excited to be participating in the event and to collaborate on AI with this Consortium,” said Romero. Jay Gorajia, Director of Global Services for Siemens Digital Industries Software, is one of the keynotes for the event. He will be engaging the audience with a compelling AI-centric discussion around digital-twins, physics-based AI, and product lifecycle management.
“I’m honored to be a part of this unique event and to be a trustee of the consortium. The collaborative work we are doing with the consortium is helping pave the road for the future and empowering organizations to make their AI journey successfully.”
This event highlights the value of the Consortium, bringing together an ecosystem of professors, AI professionals, and department chairs amongst the AIIC and University of Houston. Two of the respective figure heads, Dr. Anthony Ambler, Dean of the College of Technology, and Konrad Konarski, Chairperson of the AI Innovation Consortium, have been key players in bringing to life the AI Digital Oilfield, a joint initiative between the University and the Consortium, as well as the Evolve 2021 event.
“Collaborating with the AIIC has helped enhance our ability to provide hands-on AI skills and experience to our students through things like the AI Digital Oilfield,” said Dr. Ambler. “It’s also extending a hand to the student and IT communities of greater Houston by sharing these successes and creating AI upskilling opportunities through this event.”
“I’d like to extend a personal call-to-action to the oil & gas, retail, manufacturing, and life sciences industries, as well as the IT professionals, professors and students to attend Evolve 2021,” Konarski said. “The collective ecosystem of the AIIC has set out to help break barriers of adoption of artificial intelligence. This event, its lineup, its rich workshops, and its diverse panel discussions, are great representations of this cumulative effort.” For more information or to register, visit: https://aiinnovationconsortium.org/evolve-2021
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