IEEE HART (Hardware for AI, Research, & Talent-building) is a new IEEE initiative that seeks to address unique demands that are being put on the hardware design and development industry by the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). To keep up with the needs of advanced AI, new hardware will need to maintain higher power and processing loads, but with a low energy footprint and decreased power loss.
However, over the past two decades the technology industry has experienced a significant imbalance in talent development between software and hardware disciplines. While software engineering, data science, and artificial intelligence have seen explosive growth in academic interest and career opportunities, the hardware side of the innovation ecosystem—semiconductor design, embedded systems, and electronic hardware engineering—has suffered from a decline in student engagement, educational focus, and workforce capacity.
The IEEE HART initiative will launch projects that bring together leaders from both the hardware and software disciplines to define technical hurdles with hardware supporting AI workloads, and recommend ways to overcome them. These projects will include technical workshops and panels, webinars, publications, and more.
IEEE HART will also launch projects for students and early-career engineers that provide structured, hands-on experiences with hardware development and design, with the goal of creating excitement around hardware development and design and rebuilding the talent pool of hardware engineers. These projects will include competitions, training programs, and access to tools (hardware and software) that are essential to chip design fundamentals, photonics, packaging, AI accelerators, and system-level integration.
Like all IEEE programs, we seek volunteers from across industry, academia, non-profits, and government/research entities who are passionate and able to donate their time and talent. We also plan to build a community of followers who may not have time to volunteer, but want to stay up to date on HART’s efforts and activities. If you fall into either category, click the appropriate button to sign up.
