UFMG’s Compilers Lab (LaC) has received a donation from Cadence, a pivotal leader in electronic systems design. The donation was sponsored by the Software Engineering Group of the US branch of the company. This group, coordinated by director Eric Stotzer, has been developing compilation techniques to generate increasingly more efficient, accurate and secure machine learning models.
The donation will allow the Compilers Lab to offer its students scholarships at PhD, MSc and undergrad levels. Fernando Pereira, LaC’s current coordinator, intends to use the grant to develop code optimization techniques for the so-called “Tensor Kernels”. These programs are essential parts of neural networks, but also find service in image processing algorithms and discrete event simulations, for instance.
In Fernando’s words: “This kind of donation, which does not require anything back, is the best of the scenarios that can occur in interactions between the public university and the private sector. It lets us focus our time and energy into our areas of expertise. The money itself, of course, is important to us, but the value of the donation goes much beyond that. It brings the university closer to a high-tech company that is a leader in the hardware/software sector. Several DCC/UFMG graduates already work at Cadence today. This is one of the few companies present in Belo Horizonte where compilers, the core of our research, are developed as market products.”
According to Eric Stotzer, Cadence’s scientist who coordinates the group from which the donation came, one of the company’s goals is to have greater contact with Brazilian CS students. The company is always looking to create a richer and more diverse work environment. And UFMG, with three of the best IT courses in Brazil, is a well-recognized source of competence and diversity.
