Have You Met ... the Industry Sandbox for AI Computing (ISAIC) team? | The Quad

To highlight the work that U of A teams do and the impact they make, The Quad invites you to meet the university's teams.

This week, we introduce you to the Industry Sandbox for AI Computing (ISAIC) team, located within the Faculty of Engineering at the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (Faculty of Engineering), and one of three units within the Alberta CREATE Centre. Their team is comprised of a diverse team of specialists, some with technical backgrounds and expertise in cloud architecture, machine learning and software engineering. Other team members possess industry, marketing and business development expertise.

Their mission is to provide local, accessible, secure, high-performance computational resources, tools, services and expertise, enabling businesses to harness the potential of data and artificial intelligence on the cloud.

What does your unit do, and what is one way your team contributes to the U of A community?

Solange Gagnebin, industry manager:For the last five years, ISAIC has helped many researchers and students get the computing power they need for academic activities. We supported around 900 students for courses, capstone projects and co-op opportunities by providing AI computing power to almost all engineering departments, the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FoMD) and Amii's Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair professors.

In 2024, ISAIC's mandate to serve industry has been reinforced, slightly changing our focus. Researchers are still more than welcome to contact ISAIC for computing resources when they meet the following conditions: 1) Researchers have an industry partner working on their projects and 2) the request for access to AI computing power should come from the industry partner.

For pure fundamental research, the Digital Research Alliance of Canadais available to provide the free computing power necessary for such research.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your needs. Our door is always open.

Omid Hajihassani, machine learning and client support analyst: One of the ways that ISAIC contributes to the U of A community is through in-kind contributions to hackathons and datathons in the form of hardware resources for AI where participants can enjoy having access to state-of-the-art AI development platforms.

Apart from the in-kind computation offerings to participants, ISAIC hosted and presented different technical presentations on data science and cloud topics where students are presented with the most recent advancements in AI development and cloud-based AI solutions. ISAIC also judges different hackathons.

What is one word you would use to describe your team?

Usama Arif, system and client service analyst: Cutting-edge

Omid Hajihassani: Agile

Solange Gagnebin: Dedicated

Griselda Sukmaro, business development specialist: Service-oriented

Jim Boyes, supervisor:Innovative

Freddy Borja Laverde, software developer and cloud support:Goal-oriented

Who is impacted by your unit's work the most across campus, and how do you support them?

Omid Hajihassani: Academics that have partnerships with industry working on projects having an impact on the development of solutions all across Canada.

Solange Gagnebin: Currently, we are focused on providing researchers working in partnership with industry the computing power they need for their projects. We are also supporting University of Alberta spin-offs as they seek their first cloud experience before transitioning to larger "hyperscalers." We are helping these organizations understand how to operate efficiently on the cloud to manage costs effectively.

Griselda Sukmaro: ISAIC's current focus is to enable AI applications. While we cannot provide research-based solutions, ISAIC is best for companies that are at the validating, scaling and establishing stages.

We are fortunate enough to have PulseMedica as one of our clients, whom we met at the university. As Foliomentioned in 2021, Nir Katchinskiy transforms laser treatments with his innovative solution, combining 3-D retinal scanning with machine-learning algorithms. Recently, Googleselected them as one of the companies to join their Startup Accelerator program.

ISAIC looks forward to innovations both in and out of the university, to provide high-performance computing (HPC) machines for entrepreneurial AI/ML projects.

Freddy Borja Laverde: ISAIC supports a select number of university courses by providing computational environments to perform their AI and machine learning tasks.

What is your favourite thing about your team?

Usama Arif: Our versatility. We have a wide range of skills and can adapt easily to different tasks, roles or situations.

Omid Hajihassani: We help each other where we can and elevate the team.

Solange Gagnebin: They have excellent technical knowledge and you can count on them.

Griselda Sukmaro:Our agility to adapt with innovation.

Jim Boyes:Their enthusiastic response to client requests.

Freddy Borja Laverde:Their eagerness, diverse set of skills and agility to learn new things.

What is something other departments may not expect your unit to do?

Solange Gagnebin: Even if we are focused on industry, we can support courses with V100 cards and JupyterHub, allowing students to work on projects.

Griselda Sukmaro:One of ISAIC's values is "Find a Way." Time and again, we deliver excellent client experiences because we work hard to find a way to solve their problems. ISAIC recognizes that we might not be able to do everything, but we do our best to guide entrepreneurs, both in providing connections and tools for them to explore.

Jim Boyes:Many departments across campus may be unaware of the high-performance computing resources that we have available to support academic-industry partnerships.

What does Leading with Purpose mean to your team, and how do you incorporate it into your daily activities?

Griselda Sukmaro: Back in May 2024, I attended a focus group on lateral leadership. The fruitful discussion was synthesized into the Leading with Influencecourse, targeted at all employees, regardless of their positions.

"Leading with Purpose" and that lateral leadership cannot be truer for ISAIC's team members. We understand that leadership means taking ownership and therefore, holding accountable for what we do. ISAIC is very clear on what we want to do, namely to enable the application of AI/ML in the industry. By serving entrepreneurs, we hope to better the community with applied innovations.

Jim Boyes: The ISAIC team directly supports the Shape theme of "engagement with purpose." We primarily work on academic-industry partnerships and serve clients external to the university, including spin-off startups from University of Alberta alumni. ISAIC is helping to build stronger connections between the university and the business community, working purposefully with Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and supporting commercialization and entrepreneurship to help translate innovations into real-world impact.

About Industry Sandbox for AI Computing (ISAIC)

ISAIC provides local, accessible, secure, high-performance computational resources, tools, services and expertise, enabling businesses to harness the potential of data and artificial intelligence on the cloud. They provide open access to advanced technology on a fee-for-service basis and serve industry and academia.

They are situated within the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (Faculty of Engineering), and are one of three units within the Alberta CREATE Centre. The CREATE Centre is where future ideas come to reality; whether big, small or intelligent. The centre has three core units: the Elko Engineering Garage, the nanoFAB and ISAIC.

ISAIC receives funding from agencies such as Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)and Alberta Innovates to support industry commercialization of AI and machine learning products and services.

The University of Alberta is ranked #1 in Canada for AI research, and ISAIC's vision is perfectly aligned to contribute further to this success. IASIC is committed to evolving excellence and helping realize a better tomorrow with artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital transformation through cloud technology.

Team members:

• Usama Arif, system and client service analyst
• Freddy Borja Laverde, software developer and cloud support
• Jim Boyes, supervisor
• Solange Gagnebin, industry manager
• Omid Hajihassani, machine learning and client support analyst
• Griselda Sukmaro, business development specialist

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