University of Kent named as an 'NVIDIA GPU Research Center'

The University of Kent has been named a GPU Research Center by NVIDIA, the world leader in visual computing. It joins University College London, Sheffield, and Durham in the small list of UK universities that have been named as research centres.

GPU Research Centers are institutions that embrace and use GPU (graphics processing unit) computing across multiple research fields, and are at the forefront of some of the world's most innovative scientific research. GPU-accelerated computing enables software to deliver dramatic increases in performance for scientific, artificial intelligence, machine learning, graphics, engineering and other demanding applications.

Kent was recognised for its world-leading research in optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive technique for sub-surface imaging of semi-transparent materials. This technology has applications in areas such as real-time diagnostics in ophthalmology, surgery monitoring, and art investigation. This award was in recognition of the research of Konstantin Kapinchev and Fred Barnes from the School of Computing and Adrian Bradu and Adrian Podoleanu from The School of Physical Sciences.

Konstantin explained: ‘The use of GPU-accelerated computing in OCT enables a faster route from the raw data being acquired to the final stage of image generation, in addition to more complex signal processing and real-time performance. We have been able to boost the performance of an OCT system when scanning the eye by a factor of 17. This has enabled us to visualise structures of human eye in entirely new way.’

As a GPU Research Center (formerly known as CUDA Research Center), the University of Kent will have a pre-release access to NVIDIA GPU hardware and software, the opportunity to attend exclusive events with key researchers and academics, a designated NVIDIA technical liaison, and access to specialised online and in-person training sessions.