{"id":1047,"date":"2021-10-19T08:39:25","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T08:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/2021\/10\/19\/college-students-in-ai-take-worlds-greatest-field-trip-to-gtc\/"},"modified":"2021-10-19T08:39:25","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T08:39:25","slug":"college-students-in-ai-take-worlds-greatest-field-trip-to-gtc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/2021\/10\/19\/college-students-in-ai-take-worlds-greatest-field-trip-to-gtc\/","title":{"rendered":"College Students in AI Take \u2018World\u2019s Greatest Field Trip\u2019 to GTC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Seventy-five students from Houston Community College\u2019s<\/a> new two-year artificial intelligence program will attend NVIDIA\u2019s GTC conference<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n

Calling it \u201cthe greatest field trip of all time,\u201d the program\u2019s coordinator, G. Raymond Brown, sees it as a way to bring students in the program up to speed fast.<\/p>\n

The program at HCC, launched in August 2020, aims to get skilled workers into Houston\u2019s booming job market. HCC reaches more than 110,000 students per year, making it one of the largest and most diverse two-year public colleges in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found GTC to be a marvelous resource,\u201d said Brown, who first sent students to the conference in April. \u201cBeing virtual has made an enormous difference for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing More Skills to More Workers<\/h2>\n

GTC is one of the premier events in AI, accelerated computing, autonomous vehicles and robotics.<\/p>\n

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference brought together innovators from various industries at events in Silicon Valley and around the world.<\/p>\n

But GTC went virtual in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.<\/p>\n

When that happened, Brown and USAi Labs, a Houston nonprofit developer network specializing in mentoring, education and intelligence-based R&D, sprang into action.<\/p>\n

With the bulk of the conference free, and no need to worry about a travel budget, GTC\u2019s lineup of speakers, training sessions and keynotes could become an invaluable resource.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Brown \u2014 who holds a Ph.D. in physics from Duke University and is known as \u201cDoc Brown\u201d \u2014 was looking to add to HCC\u2019s AI program.<\/p>\n

The cost of tuition at four-year colleges in the United States has never been higher, leaving many students with enormous debts.<\/p>\n

At the same time, worldwide demand for AI skills is surging.<\/p>\n

And there are a vast number of opportunities in Houston, America\u2019s most diverse city<\/a>, with its medical, aerospace, oil and gas, and technology industries, Brown said.<\/p>\n

Brown, who has worked in private industry and as a physics professor at four-year colleges, knows this territory well.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>Two years ago, he saw an opportunity for an affordable two-year college program at HCC that could make a difference by engaging a broad population of students.<\/p>\n

The goal: prepare them for jobs as AI support specialists who can help enterprise teams put the latest AI technologies to work.<\/p>\n

As a result, Brown\u2019s students are already busy.<\/p>\n

He said that many already have part-time jobs and side gigs, even before his nascent program has graduated a single student.<\/p>\n

One student, Denzel Wilson (left), spent the summer at Rice University, helping graduate students and faculty in bio-genomics put AI techniques to work to advance their research.<\/p>\n

Another student recently gave a presentation on the latest AI techniques at the Pumps and Pipes meetup. It brings Houston\u2019s world-class oil and gas engineers together with members of the region\u2019s medical community to exchange ideas.<\/p>\n

Brown says such opportunities can be the first rung on the career ladder for his students, many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n

And many employers are eager to pay for more training and education for new hires, letting students accumulate in-demand skills rather than debt.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>Others, such as Neethi Anand Gangidi (right), who already holds master\u2019s degrees in chemical engineering and subsea engineering, see HCC\u2019s AI program as a way to swiftly add practical AI to their skill sets.<\/p>\n

Digging In<\/h2>\n

In the spring, Brown added GTC to three of the program\u2019s courses \u2014 History, Theory and Platforms 1370, Machine Learning in AI 1371, and Computer Vision in AI 1378 \u2014 in two course modules with assignments, discussions and presentations.<\/p>\n

Some courses in the program even make use of teaching kits<\/a> from NVIDIA\u2019s Deep Learning Institute.<\/p>\n

Brown reports students dug right in, starting with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang\u2019s keynote. Some students, like Gangidi, sat in on dozens of sessions across a wide variety of industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the opportunity to learn what\u2019s going on in the AI industry is really awesome,\u201d Gangidi said.<\/p>\n

From there, students chose sessions that piqued their interest. Brown reports that many were overwhelmed in the first few days, but they soon got their bearings.<\/p>\n

They began to pick up on who was influential in the world of AI. They started to understand trends in the field better. And they got a broader perspective on the growing number of industries it\u2019s reshaping, Brown reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are just so many things to take in,\u201d said Wilson, who is taking courses at HCC while he works as a laboratory assistant.<\/p>\n

One of the most valuable lessons students learned from seasoned pros working in AI is that it\u2019s a process rather than a product.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the kids were surprised,\u201d Brown said. \u201cMost students believe everything should work out of the box. They don\u2019t realize that good AI is a matter of gradually getting to the right answers, not an instant answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s eager to send students back for more. For next month\u2019s GTC, he\u2019s expanding the amount of coursework built around GTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our students to see themselves as the professionals they are becoming,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThat starts with inclusion in events like GTC.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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