RPI, UAlbany Announce New Computing Collaboration
ALBANY, N.Y. (April 5, 2024) — President Havidán Rodríguez joined RPI President Martin Schmidt and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna on Friday for the ribbon cutting on the first IBM quantum computer on a university campus.
Rodríguez and Schmidt used the occasion of the unveiling of the IBM Quantum System One at RPI to announce a new collaboration between UAlbany and RPI to push the boundaries of computer technology and its applications, leveraging the respective strengths and formidable resources of the region’s two R1 institutions for the benefit of the Capital Region, New York, and the nation
“A deeper partnership between the Capital Region’s two leading research institutions will yield more impactful research in service of the public good and more significant economic benefits for New York,” Rodríguez said. “Together, our scientists can put the full potential of our computing resources to work in fields like biotechnology and AI. President Schmidt and I immediately recognized the enormous promise of leveraging the combined expertise of RPI and UAlbany. I am grateful for his partnership and look forward to the exciting and innovative collaborations to come.”
Researchers at each university will have many exciting opportunities to work together. Scientists at UAlbany’s RNA Institute, for example, may use the IBM Quantum System One to further their cutting-edge work in modeling new drugs and other treatments for RNA diseases. Researchers at RPI, meanwhile, can collaborate with the UAlbany-IBM Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems to explore the frontiers of more energy-efficient low-precision AI computing in applications such as computer vision. Earlier this year, UAlbany installed the first prototype IBM Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU) computing cluster at any university in the world.
Also on hand for the ribbon cutting were U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, Vice Chair of RPI Board of Trustees Curtis R. Priem; RPI Board of Trustees Chair John E. Kelly III, and RPI Quantum Computing Club Co-President Michael Papadopoulos.