This course, second webinar of the IT4LIA “AI B C programme”, provides a practical introduction to the world of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and its role in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning workflows. Participants will be guided from the fundamental concepts of HPC environments to the execution of AI and Machine Learning applications on state-of-the-art supercomputing infrastructures.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to navigate HPC systems independently, access computational resources available through the AI Factory ecosystem, and deploy their own data processing and AI pipelines on advanced supercomputers such as LEONARDO.
Course Content and Programme
Module 1 – Introduction to HPC Environments and Development Workflows (2 hours)
Provide participants with the foundational concepts required to work effectively in HPC environments and manage projects on large-scale computing infrastructures.
- Introduction to Linux and Bash environments.
- Project setup and environment management.
- Best practices for developing and running code on HPC systems.
- Software environments and dependency management.
- Overview of HPC workflows for AI and data-intensive applications.
Module 2 – Understanding Supercomputers and Accessing AI Factory Resources (2 hours)
Introduce participants to the architecture and operation of modern supercomputers and explain how to access computational resources through the AI Factory ecosystem.
- Fundamentals of High-Performance Computing.
- Architecture and capabilities of the LEONARDO supercomputer.
- Overview of CINECA computing infrastructures.
- Procedures for requesting access to AI Factory computing resources.
- Resource allocation and project onboarding processes.
Module 3 – Running AI Workloads on HPC Systems (2 hours)
Enable participants to execute AI and Machine Learning workloads on HPC infrastructures using standard tools and scheduling systems.
- Secure connection to HPC systems via SSH.
- Uploading and downloading data.
- Job submission and monitoring using SLURM.
- Running Machine Learning and AI pipelines on HPC resources.
- Introduction to cloud resources available through the AI Factory.
- Integration of cloud and HPC environments.
Course Duration
6 hours
Target Audience
The course is designed for:
- Researchers and professionals interested in migrating their workflows to High-Performance Computing environments;
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning practitioners;
- Data Scientists and computational researchers;
- STEM professionals seeking practical experience with supercomputing resources;
- Users interested in leveraging advanced computing infrastructures for data-intensive applications.
Requirements
Basic programming knowledge.
No previous experience with supercomputing environments is required.
Calendar
October 12th and 26th 2026, on both days from 09:00 to 12:00