ECPI University continues to embrace the latest in technology and education. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), our classrooms must advance as our society does.
“AI is something that is all throughout our society,” said ECPI EET faculty member Dr. Paul Nussbaum. “I would like our students to understand AI’s true capability, the societal impact, and how it can affect their career and lives.”
Dr. Nussbaum recently underwent the rigorous process of becoming a NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) Ambassador in early 2022.
“It’s like applying for any other teaching position,” said Paul, iterating the application process for becoming a DLI Ambassador. “I had to show my published papers relating to AI, my code repository on Guthub, my ranking within the Kaggle AI competition system, as well as my blog, vlog, and public postings. Also, I had to earn a certification from one of the workshops, followed by a re-take of the workshop in "instructor examination" mode (tougher questions). Finally there was an interview and teaching demonstration process before I was selected. Since I was also teaching full time, the process took me about a year.”
Since becoming a NVIDIA DLI Ambassador, Dr. Nussbaum has hosted workshops on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ECPI University students and faculty, as well as community partners. These NVIDIA DLI workshops offer unique, free training for those looking to solve challenging problems with deep learning and accelerated computing.
“Attendees in general must actively participate for the entire 8-hour workshop,” said Paul. “They are writing and executing code to build, train, and test various AI solutions using NVIDIA provided cloud hardware or ECPI provided edge devices. After the workshop is over, there is an examination that may involve questions, practical exercises, or a combination - depending on the workshop.”
Currently, there are four NVIDIA AI certifications that I have selected to learn and be authorized to teach, currently listed on the ECPI approved certification list: Fundamentals of Deep Learning; Application of AI for Anomaly Detection; Application of AI for Predictive Maintenance; and
The goal of the AI workshops is to provide attendees with hands-on experience building, training, and testing multiple AI solutions. Attendees may also earn a numbered traceable certification from NVIDIA attesting to their completion of a practical examination. This objective also aligns with Dr. Nussbaum’s personal goals as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) member.
“I have sworn to their code of conduct, which a couple of years back added the item - to improve the understanding by individuals and society of the capabilities and societal implications of conventional and emerging technologies, including intelligent systems," said Paul. “So this allows me to also personally achieve this goal.”
Dr. Nussbaum believes AI will be a part of many students' future careers, and as such, it makes sense for them to have exposure to what these systems can realistically do, and not do.
“I have had students, alumni researchers, faculty, and staff attend these workshops from all degree majors, including health science and business, and not just computer science and engineering technology. The workshops have been a real eye-opener for attendees, and very well received. They get to see just how critical the training data is in this regard.”
For more information on upcoming NVIDIA AI workshops, contact pnussbaum@ecpi.edu.