Frangipani
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By chance, I stumbled upon the following post about USC graduate Natalie Fung, who was recently awarded a Master in Communications Data Science - with her resilience and can-do attitude, she truly is an inspiration:
How heart-warming that USC Viterbi even awarded her service dog a certificate of graduation at the commencement ceremony in May!
The May 2024 USC website article, which is linked in the first post, mentions the name of her lab:
Changing Course: Natalie Fung - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering
From PR to data science, Natalie Fung, a graduating master's student, on becoming a "double Trojan" after a life-altering accident.
viterbischool.usc.edu
“Since fall 2021, I’ve been involved with accessibility awareness on campus through the Viterbi Graduate Student Association, from partnering with the Graduate Student Government to put on a disability resource and awareness fair, to creating content on acquiring accommodations at USC.
I’m also a lab manager and research assistant in the Valero Lab under Prof. Francisco Valero-Cuevas, where I previously helped him plan a conference held at USC in conjunction with the National Science Foundation. Four published papers on disability and rehabilitation engineering resulted from the conference!
I’m now being funded by NSF to see how a neuromorphic arm developed in the lab can be directly translated into real life.”
The USC Brain-Body Dynamics Lab is led by Francisco Valero-Cuevas, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy (try to fit all this onto one business card!), who has been fascinated with the biomechanics of the human hand for years (see the 2008 article below) and was already talking about utilising neuromorphic chips in robots three years ago, in a ‘research update’ video recorded on June 17, 2021:
“But at the same time we are building physical robots that have what are called ‘neuromorphic circuits’. These are computer chips that are emulating populations of spiking neurons that then feed motors and amplifiers and the like that actually produce manipulation and locomotion.” (from 2:56 min)
Given that a number of USC Viterbi School of Engineering faculty members are evidently favourably aware of BrainChip (see below) - plus our CTO happens to be a USC School of Engineering alumnus and possibly still has some ties to his alma mater - I wouldn’t be surprised if Valero Lab researchers were also experimenting with Akida.
Remember this June 2023 This is our Mission podcast?
Episode 27: Podcast with USC Professor Dr. Gaurav Sukhatme on innovation in AI, Robotics & autonomy
Listen to Episode 27 of our podcast featuring USC Professor Dr. Gaurav Sukhatme as we explore innovation in AI, robotics, and autonomy.brainchip.com
After introducing his guest, who also serves as the Executive Vice Dean at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Nandan Nayampally says “You know, we go back a long way … in fact, we had common alma maters.” (03:14 min)
Gaurav Sukatme:
From 25:32 min: “I think the partnership between industry and academia is crucial here to make progress.”
From 27:13 min: “You know, companies like yours, like Brainchip, what you are doing with the University Accelerator Program, I like very much - in fact, we’re looking into it, as you know, we’ll be having a phone [?] conversation about exploring that further. I think programs like that are unique and can really make the nexus between a leading company and academia sort of be tighter and be stronger.”
At the end of the podcast, Nandan Nayampally thanks his guest for sharing his insights and closes with the words “…and hopefully we’ll work together much closer soon.” (35:15 min)
Which makes Brainchip’s involvement in CONCRETE (Center of Neuromorphic Computing and Extreme Environment”), well, not concrete, but certainly more likely…
Meanwhile, yet another university is encouraging their students to apply for a summer internship at BrainChip:
BrainChip– Internship Program 2024 - USC Viterbi | Career Services
BrainChip– Internship Opportunity! Apply Today! About BrainChip: BrainChip develops technology that brings commonsense to the processing of sensor data, allowing efficient use for AI inferencing enabling one to do more with less. Accurately. Elegantly. Meaningfully. They call this Essential AI...viterbicareers.usc.edu
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I guess it is just a question of time before USC will be added to the BrainChip University AI Accelerator Program, although Nandan Nayampally is sadly no longer with our company…
are part of the ongoing Berlin 6G Conference (July 2 - 4, 2024). While three of the above paper’s co-authors are session chairs or speakers, Yuzhen Ke and Mehdi Heshmati are giving live demos of Spiky Spot’s akidaesque gesture recognition skills at the conference expo.
