IIIT Hyderabad secures grant from Qualcomm for Edge AI research

Hyderabad: International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) has announced the reception of a grant totaling $186,000 from Qualcomm Technologies Inc. This funding is designated for three years and will be utilized for research in the domain of Edge AI, as well as the development of AI Models and the establishment of an Edge AI Research lab at IIITH. The lab's primary focus will be the development of Edge AI use cases on Qualcomm platforms. Qualcomm will provide its Qualcomm Innovators Development Kit (QIDK) alongside technical and knowledge support, with the research team led by Professor Ramesh Loganathan.

Leendert van Doorn, Senior Vice President of Qualcomm, inaugurated the Qualcomm Edge AI Research lab at the IIITH campus today. He remarked, "Qualcomm and IIITH share the vision of a future where India leads AI innovation, driven by creativity, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Today's announcement signifies the commencement of a three-year journey of collaboration, research, and innovation to advance Edge AI technologies. Qualcomm is dedicated to equipping the most promising innovators with the technologies and expertise to shape not only India's future but that of the world."

Commenting on the collaboration, Prof P J Narayanan, Director of IIITH, stated, "As AI becomes more pervasive, AI on the edge emerges as the next frontier. We are pleased that Qualcomm has established an Edge AI lab at IIITH, which will enhance the ongoing research efforts."

The Edge AI lab at IIITH will focus on potential technology collaboration areas such as:

- Computer vision, graphics: Image processing, computer graphics, ML generation, processing, and understanding of visual data, along with required techniques and tools

- Edge computing: Compilers, parallel and distributed systems, virtualization, cloud computing, and complexity theory (CVEST)

- VLSI and Embedded Systems: Optics and photonics/flexible electronics, analog and mixed-signal design, radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design, low-power VLSI design, and algorithms, among others

- 5G and platform machine learning: Embedded systems and IoT, smart city research

"IIITH has a longstanding association with Qualcomm across multiple areas since its inception. This lab adds to this series and will elevate our existing strengths in the Edge AI domain," remarked Prof C V Jawahar, Dean R&D, IIITH.

Shashi Reddy, Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd., stated, "Our collaboration with IIITH will usher in an era of flourishing innovation. Together, we aim to unlock the vast potential of Indian R&D and cultivate a rich pool of Edge AI use cases and solutions. The synergy between Qualcomm and IIITH holds promise in empowering Indian universities and intellect in the years ahead."