Democratizing AI Training and Access Statewide

Democratizing AI Training and Access Statewide

The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (CAAI) has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Educate AI Initiative and NAIRR Pilot Program to democratize AI and training access for Kentucky’s geographically isolated and underserved researchers and innovators. The NSF and NAIRR programs aim to spur innovation, develop the next generation of talent for a well-trained AI workforce, and connect U.S. researchers and educators to compute and training resources to advance AI in research. In partnership with the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), five Democratizing AI Training and Access workshops will be conducted across Kentucky, bringing together subject matter experts, researchers, innovators, and higher education and workforce entities to empower participants to apply AI in their work and access local and NAIRR Pilot cyberinfrastructure.

Each workshop combines foundational presentations with practical sessions, providing guided use of AI models and computational tools. Continuous learning and collaboration are available to participants post-workshop via curated online resources and ongoing communication, video tutorials, office hours, and an interactive online forum. A CAAI NAIRR Pilot chatbot will be available to help users find information, including NAIRR cyberinfrastructure and resources. The chatbot will also integrate the workshop resources and materials, offering participants practical guidance on navigating and submitting allocation requests for AI compute resources.

Workshop Goals & Objectives

CAAI’s long-term vision with this effort is to serve as a springboard for creating a self-sustaining community of AI innovators and researchers. Collaborating with CPE, KCTCS, and higher education institutions statewide, we aim to foster a collaborative community promoting AI research and innovation.

• Introduce participants to AI concepts and demonstrate real-world applications of AI
• Discuss the broad impact of AI on research and the workforce in Kentucky and beyond
• Promote innovation and groundbreaking research in AI and related fields
• Provide foundational knowledge in ML, large language models, and multimodal AI
• Explore real research workflows through hands-on sessions with CAAI’s AI tools
• Expand awareness of how to access the local and National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot AI cyberinfrastructure
• Build connections among Kentucky innovators and researchers to establish a Kentucky AI ecosystem for ongoing collaboration

Timeline and Topics

The workshops will cover concepts such as large language models (LLMs), machine learning (ML), multimodal models, and AI-powered data science and analysis, managing batch-based workloads, and working with classification or LLM pipelines. Skills developed through these workshops are readily transferable to NAIRR Pilot infrastructure.

Workshop dates and locations

What is the NAIRR Pilot Program?

The NAIRR Pilot aims to connect U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, and training resources needed to advance AI research and research that employs AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the potential to accelerate discovery and innovation and reshape our modern workforce. However, many researchers and educators lack access to the AI resources necessary to fully conduct their research activities and to train the next generation. The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) is a concept for a shared national research infrastructure to bridge this gap by connecting U.S. researchers and educators to AI resources, namely computation, data, software, models, training, and educational materials to advance research, discovery, and innovation. Access to such infrastructure is expected to: accelerate AI and AI-powered discovery and innovation; expand the AI workforce and train the next generation of AI researchers and educators; increase capacity, integration, and use of world-class public and private-sector AI resources; and advance AI interpretability, security, and trust.

The NAIRR pilot is a proof-of-concept for the eventual full-scale NAIRR. The pilot focuses on supporting research and education across the nationwide research community, while gaining insights that will refine the design of a full NAIRR. It broadly supports fundamental, translational and use-inspired AI-related research with particular emphasis on societal challenges, and trains the next generation of AI researchers and educators by providing access to infrastructure and training resources.

For more information about this effort, please visit the NSF-hosted NAIRR Pilot website.

What is a NAIRR Pilot Expansion Project?

NAIRR Pilot Expansion Projects are multidisciplinary efforts involving teams of educators, researchers, and community engagement specialists who are undertaking specific capacity-building challenges that broaden access to, training on, or educational use of one or more NAIRR Pilot resources. Expansion Projects are aimed to expand the NAIRR Pilot community and enhance utilization of resources through targeted outreach, training, and inclusive community experiences.

What are NAIRR Pilot resources?

The NAIRR Pilot Resource Catalog hosts resources available to researchers. Resource types include Cloud, GPU Compute, Innovative / Novel Compute, CPU Compute, Service, and Sensors / Instruments, with categories that comprise federal agency systems, private-sector computational resources, private-sector model access, other private-sector contributions, and the Classroom Platform.

For more information about the Resource Catalog, please visit the NAIRR Pilot Resource Catalog.

About the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (CAAI)

The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (CAAI) is a specialized team that empowers faculty, staff, researchers, and clinicians to use AI. Operating like a problem-solving think tank, our staff includes early- and late-career software developers, project managers, data scientists, and advisors who help collaborators overcome common AI barriers in technical expertise and access to secure compute resources. We are guided by tenets of empowering, exploring, and doing. Without requiring technical backgrounds or costly investments, we help our collaborators quickly turn ideas into solutions that make an impact for the communities they serve. To date, CAAI has been the lead contributor on 65 AI projects, has completed 42 projects, and maintains a network of 43 partners and more than 120 individual collaborators.

Resources and Information

Resources and information to help support continued learning.

Speakers

CAAI team

Cody Bumgardner

Director, CAAI

Caroline Leach

Data Management Specialist

Mitchell Klusty

Software Developer

Vaiden Logan

Software Developer

Aaron Mullen

Software Developer

Sam Armstrong

Technical Lead

Featured workshop speakers

Dr. Adel Elmaghraby

Jefferson Workshop

Adel S. Elmaghraby, an IEEE Life Senior Member, is the Speed School Director of Industrial Research and Innovation and Winnia Professor of CSE and former chairman of the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Louisville. He has also held appointments at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has advised over 60 master’s graduates and 24 doctoral graduates. His research and publications span intelligent systems, neural networks, cyber-security, visualization and simulation. The IEEE-Computer Society has recognized his work with multiple awards including a Golden Core membership.

Dr. Christopher Ledford

Jefferson, Gateway & Henderson Workshops

Dr. Christopher Ledford serves as the Director of Data and Advanced Analytics at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). In this role, he uses data analytics to generate inferences around improving postsecondary affordability, transitions, success, equity, talent, and value in Kentucky. Prior to CPE, Dr. Ledford served in various teaching and IR positions that grew his passion for serving students. As an institutional researcher, he led award-winning projects that shaped institutional policy around student basic needs, utilization of student communication tools, and improved demographic representation of students among institutional employees. Now at CPE, he continues to serve students by transforming Kentucky postsecondary data into actionable strategies and policies that improve student access to higher education and credentials of value.

George Insko

Gateway Workshop

George Insko is a well-seasoned cybersecurity executive with more than two decades of experience leading enterprise security, incident response, and digital-forensics operations. His career includes roles as CIO, CISO, and Enterprise Architect, aiding organizations in tackling technological, regulatory, and geopolitical challenges. With a foundation in intelligence, natural resource management, economics, and political science, he has recently led initiatives at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI. He helps organizations securely adopt AI, manage emerging models, and integrate intelligent automation into security. Known for building high-performance teams, he blends expertise in networking, threat hunting, and incident response with a focus on business results and responsible innovation.

Travis Muncie

Hazard Workshop

Travis Muncie is the Assistant Vice President for the Data and Advanced Analytics unit at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). In his role, he oversees the agency’s data strategy, information systems, policy research, and application development. Travis has an extensive background in higher education information systems and was the chief architect of the agency’s Interactive Data Center. He also led the development of the accountability framework for Kentucky’s 2022-2030 Strategic Agenda for Postsecondary Education. Travis holds a B.A. and M.S. from Morehead State University and is currently pursuing his doctorate in the Studies in Higher Education PhD program at the University of Kentucky.

Danna Barnett

Hazard Workshop

Danna Barnett is the Director of Entrepreneurship at Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR), where she leads the Business and Innovation Unit as the designated Innovation Hub for Eastern Kentucky through KY Innovation and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. She leads the growth of a tech-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem, develops programming for student and community entrepreneurs, and connects Eastern Kentucky to statewide and national innovation resources. She also oversees the Eastern Kentucky Runway Social Enterprise Accelerator and helps lead AI-focused programming, including AI Startup Sprints and the integration of AI into accelerator curriculum. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, she earned a BBA in Marketing with a minor in Communication as a Robinson Scholar and Chellgren Fellow, and holds a Credential of Readiness from Harvard Business School Online.

Rusty Justice

Hazard Workshop

Rusty Justice is an entrepreneur from Eastern Kentucky. His business investments provide services in engineering, mining, land development, telecom, software, and broadcasting. He holds degrees from the University of Kentucky in Mining and Civil Engineering and is a Fellow in the UK Engineering Hall of Distinction. He is also a graduate of MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program and a founding member of Accelerate Kentucky, a nonprofit focused on supporting Kentucky’s entrepreneurs and innovators. Rusty combines his love for business and engineering with a deep appreciation for Appalachia’s rich heritage, working to grow the local economy through diverse projects with cultural value.

Dr. Manmeet Singh

Henderson Workshop

Dr. Manmeet Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences at Western Kentucky University. His interdisciplinary research lies at the intersection of climate science, artificial intelligence, and Earth system modeling. Before joining WKU, Dr. Singh was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, where he worked on AI-augmented weather and climate prediction systems. He also served as a Scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). Dr. Singh holds a Ph.D. in Climate Studies from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and his research has been recognized globally, including the Paris Olympics 2024 Research Demonstration Project and the Earth Virtualization Engines.

Frequently asked questions

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2528161. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.