The Amazon Web Services (AWS) team flew in from across the country to give Fresno State a firsthand look at new and emerging cloud technologies.

The AWS AI/ML Immersion Day was hosted by the Hub of Digital Transformation (DX) and AWS, on Nov. 18. It was a first-of-its kind opportunity for the Central Valley to learn about the area of cloud-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for research and innovation.

The event allowed for over 120 students and 65 faculty/staff members to explore the Amazon SageMaker, Alexa (NLP), Computer Vision and many other AI services, while having the opportunity to meet and converse with the AWS solution experts.

“I was very excited to be able to experience AI and machine learning,” said Upkar Sing, computer science student. “Once I graduate, I want to work with AI and machine learning, so it is important that I learn about it right now."

The AWS team explained how anyone can use AI and ML as a tool to solve specific problems from agricultural, to business, or the University as a whole. Many students and faculty shared their project ideas and were curious about how they might use AI and ML to help.

“I had a great experience at the AWS Immersion Day,” said Dr. Alex Liu, professor at computer science. “Students were coming up to me after the computer science faculty’s presentation of current research projects, to ask about machine learning.”

“This AWS event offers faculty a forum to gather together, explore interdisciplinary opportunities and collaborate to solve practical or research problems,” Liu said with a smile. “It is a great opportunity to learn a new skill set and apply it to different areas of the community.”

Faculty and students can contact Max Tsai at janq@csufresno.edu to take advantage of AWS Educate or to start exploring Amazon cloud services and request cloud credits.