University of California, Santa Cruz workshop explores brain-inspired computing – Santa Cruz Sentinel

SANTA CRUZ — Students and curious community members from across the county and Bay Area are invited to participate in a two-day workshop July 26-27 at UC Santa Cruz on semiconductors and the development of computer technology that acts more like the human brain.

The workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation and is part of its Future of Semiconductors program. The two-day event aims to present the science behind the materials and devices needed for brain-inspired computing in terms simple enough for a general audience, and to attract students interested in the field and the broader semiconductor research community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“This workshop is as much about workforce development as it is about the future of semiconductors,” Aiming Yan, an assistant professor of physics at UCSC, said in a statement. “Being so close to Silicon Valley, we want to help students from across the region understand that this is a promising field in which to pursue a career.”

The event will feature presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions and lectures from scientists at the forefront of their fields, such as Yan, who will talk about “Atomically Thin Two-Dimensional Materials for Brain-Inspired Computing,” and Jason Eshraghian, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UCSC, who has championed the artificial intelligence language learning method, SpikeGPT, which works more like the human brain to reduce its energy consumption.

Eshraghian also recently co-authored a study showing that a language-learning model can be powered by about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb using custom hardware developed by the research team in just a few weeks. His talk, “How Can We Make Artificial Intelligence as Efficient as the Human Brain?” is scheduled for July 26.

Other speakers include Wei Chen, a professor at the University at Buffalo, who will discuss “Discovery and Design of New Materials with Computers” and Foroozan Koushan of Ferroelectric Memory Company who will speak on “Device and Material Selection for AI Applications: Considerations and Approach.”

Nobuhiko Kobayashi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UCSC, will discuss the future of semiconductors and the importance of hardware research. His talk, scheduled for July 26, is titled “Deciphering Resistive Switches.”

“In a world where software is everywhere, hardware is much less appreciated,” Kobayashi said in a statement. “But hardware is the engine of everything, and we want more young people to be aware of that.”

For more information, visit news.ucsc.edu.

Originally published: July 18, 2024 at 4:22 p.m.