Micron has acquired FWDNXT, a machine learning software and hardware startup that spun out of Purdue. Micron is integrating FWDNXT’s artificial intelligence hardware and software technology with its advanced memory to explore deep learning solutions for data analytics, particularly in IoT and edge computing.
Purdue provided the entrepreneurial resources to help me achieve my vision of taking our work on machine learning and deep learning technology to a much wider audience where we can have a bigger impact,” said Eugenio Culurciello, Micron fellow and chief machine learning architect. “Micron has the leadership in memory, long history of innovation and drive to deliver power and performance capabilities that address the most complex and demanding edge applications at scale.”
Culurciello founded FWDNXT while working as an associate professor in Purdue’s College of Engineering. Based in the Purdue Research Park, FWDNXT designed next-generation hardware and software for deep learning aimed at enabling computers to understand the world in the same way humans do. Culurciello worked closely with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to secure and develop an intellectual property rights strategy for the AI technology that he developed at Purdue, which Micron licenses today.
The FWDNXT acquisition is another strong show of confidence by industry in Purdue technology designed to make a difference for Indiana and beyond,” said Brooke Beier, vice president of the Office of Technology Commercialization.
