AWS's first East Coast Cloud Innovation Center opens at Pitt
Center offers internships in health science and sports analytics.
AWS provides students access to advanced cloud computing tools.
The ribbon was cut Wednesday on the first Amazon Web Service-powered Cloud Innovation Center on the East Coast at the University of Pittsburgh.
The new Health Science and Sports Analytics Cloud Innovation Center will provide students with internship opportunities to pursue data driven research in the two namesake fields. At the ribbon cutting ceremony, student speakers highlighted work in the fields of generative AI and computer vision that would be bolstered by AWS's cloud computing offerings.
"What I really appreciate is that AWS is providing resources to train our students on the use of the various AWS tools and technologies," Mark Henderson, Pitt's CIO, said. "From a workforce development standpoint, it gives those students real-world experiences that are transferable into whatever they may pursue when they leave the university."
It's a time of rapid innovation in the computing space. Graphics processing units are in high demand with the surge of interest in AI, and the powerful components are constantly being refined. By relying on the cloud and not establishing a small-scale data center in the university itself, students expect to benefit from a constantly evolving set of offerings.
"As a cloud computing company, we're always innovating at the pace that companies are demanding for our customers that want to see us move quickly," Dominic Delmolino, AWS vice president of worldwide public sector technology and innovation, said. "The great thing is that when we innovate in that fashion, it becomes available for everyone to use. A facility like this is really a collaboration and innovation space where great minds can talk and work together but they have access to all of our capabilities that are in the cloud. It's not like we have to bring in computing equipment here that they have to keep fresh; they have direct access to the capabilities that the best researchers in the world can use."
Pitt Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences Anantha Shekhar said in a prepared statement that "by integrating cutting-edge technology with our vast research capabilities we will drive transformative solutions that improve health outcomes and accelerate medical breakthroughs."
Henderson and Delmolino both pointed out that innovation in athletic-focused technologies expands beyond the major leagues. On one hand, the innovations could be applicable for youth analytics as well, and on the other hand, an expanded role of technology in the sector presents opportunity for more people to be involved in the industry.
"A very salient point is that there are only so many slots available in the NHL or the NBA or the NFL or Major League Baseball," Henderson said. "The work that we're doing provides another avenue for people to participate through technology, through analytics or through business process reinvention."
The opening of this center comes a week after the university announced a $10 million partnership with Leidos for an AI-focused health care research hub.
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