Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that it has become a member of the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET) to support the high-performance computing (HPC) requirements of the college’s Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (the AI Hub). Established in 2001, SHARCNET is the largest HPC consortium in Canada, which includes 18 universities, colleges and research institutes across southwestern, central and northern Ontario.

By participating in the SHARCNET ecosystem, applied researchers and students at the AI Hub will have access to an on-demand selection of specialized software that will allow them to create, host and deploy their own applications. Additionally, accelerated computing power, increased memory and storage will support the development of large-scale, enterprise-grade prototypes faster and more efficiently for clients and applied research partners.

“Becoming a member of the SHARCNET consortium is very exciting and a significant benefit for faculty and student researchers at the college. Access to valuable software and high-performance computing capabilities will not only drive efficiencies in our research projects, but will also allow us to reduce cost and project time, impacting customer satisfaction and increasing research output,” said Debbie McKee Demczyk, dean, Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Leveraging ORION’s digital infrastructure, the AI Hub will be able to access all that SHARCNET has to offer through cloud technology, without the need for on-site hardware installation. As a member of the consortium, AI Hub faculty and students will also have access to ongoing training programs, webinars, workshops and HPC resources offered by SHARCNET.

For more information, please visit www.sharcnet.ca.