The Ai Horizons Summit is taking place in Bakery Square, bringing Carnegie Mellon University, the place where Ai was invented more than half a century ago, to the forefront to showcase how Ai can be a benefit to society. CMU’s world-class interdisciplinary programs make them a top research university, and they’re now home to the world’s first academic Cloud Lab, which reimagines the scientific process with the help of Ai.
CMU needed more laboratory space to improve the efficiency and connection of their scattered facilities. The CMU Cloud Lab prioritizes sustainability and accuracy by harnessing the technology established by the Emerald Cloud Lab (ECL), a biotech startup founded by CMU graduate Brian Frezza and former CMU researcher DJ Kleinbaum. The ECL provides consistent laboratory testing at a commercial level.
The framework of the ECL and members of the ECL team guided CMU’s vision, with Strada weaving the needs of a cloud-based laboratory testing facility in with the fabric of the existing site, a warehouse. Systems organization and HVAC upgrades worked in tandem to bring the interior vision to life, and with building envelope updates, this project has now achieved LEED Gold.
So, what does the CMU Cloud Lab do? What benefits does it provide? Is it all Ai?
Let’s start with the last question. The Cloud Lab is POWERED by people! There are actual scientific technicians who operate the equipment and “feed the robots” by running samples through the various testing machines available. This creates a single point for research and testing that increases the repeatability and accuracy of experiments and reduces human error. By tightening the process of experimentation, students and researchers can free up time for additional research on the results of these experiments.
Think of it like online shopping instead of going into the store. The researcher is still in control of what is tested, but the “shipping and handling” is taken care of by highly trained researchers. The use of Ai brings researchers in various disciplines together as the data received from testing is catalogued and compared, much like an online store brings suggestions for items that would fit with what you have in your cart.
“By harnessing its strengths in responsible Ai, automated technologies, machine learning and the sciences, CMU is transforming each part of the scientific process: rapidly conducting background research, identifying creative new hypotheses, accelerating experimentation and then leveraging vast amounts of multimodal data to inform the next experiment.” – CMU Cloud Lab Website
Equipment planning was based on the Emerald Cloud Lab, and adapted based on the ECL team’s operational experience. Station modules and systems organization make the CMU Cloud Lab highly efficient. Hazardous or otherwise dangerous materials are contained at one location, reducing the footprint of hazardous waste disposal.
This universal platform democratizes the discovery process, building an online neighborhood of researchers to innovate in revolutionary ways beyond their individual experiments. So, sure, the CMU Cloud Lab is Ai-driven, but at its’ core, it is establishing a revolutionary community of real people across the globe. It’s designed with accuracy in mind, and, as with all Strada projects, it’s a Design with People in Mind®!