New Artificial Intelligence Center Unveiled At Wolfson Campus

Following a $14 million investment and three years of work, Miami Dade College’s second Artificial Intelligence Center is here. 

Located in Room 2104 at Wolfson Campus, the 5,000-square feet facility opened its doors on April 18. 

Students will be taught how artificial intelligence operates in fields such as business, computer science and ethics. 

“Every field, every industry and every job is going to be disrupted with AI,” said Antonio Delgado, the Vice President of Innovation & Tech Partnerships at the College. “We want every student at MDC to have AI skills.” 

Guests entering the facility are greeted by a blue video column that can project things like images, student projects and advertisements.

The entrance features a seating space and an idea incubator glass pod that allows three to four people to meet privately or work on projects. 

Inspired by the human brain, the remaining areas of the AI center are divided into a left quadrant featuring classrooms and a right side that has flexible study spaces to entice student creativity. 

On the left side of the facility, two classroom spaces each include 25 high-end computers with a dual monitor setup. The areas, which are separated by a glass wall, can be combined.

They will be utilized to teach the College’s AI Thinking course, which offers students an introduction to the technology and its ethical implications, and allow students to explore Open AI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E and host hackathon events, webinars and speakers. 

The other side of the AI Center houses two additional classrooms that feature more than 10 collaborative desks that can accommodate three people each. They will be used by students working on projects. 

Nicolas Camposolaya, a second-year entrepreneurship student at Wolfson Campus, is using the facility to work on a project that utilizes AI to help students find directions and obtain more information about the campus. 

“AI is something that is coming for us, the creators, to be empowered,” Camposolaya said. “The most important part of the center is the education [it] can bring to the students.”

Next fall, the facility will welcome new programs such as the AI awareness college credit certificate, applied AI associate’s in science degree and the applied AI bachelor’s degree. 

All three tracks will teach students how to operate AI to optimize work operations. 

In conjunction with the opening of Wolfson’s AI Center, MDC launched its Metaversity—a digital platform that allows students to use virtual reality technology to complete college tours and virtual classes. 

Developed in less than six months through VictoryRX—a company that offers classroom and campus models for VR use—the platform includes VR representations of Wolfson’s Business Innovation & Technology Center and Medical Campus’ nursing facilities. 

 It will also create virtual environments that allow students in fields such as biology or pre-medicine to perform simulated dissections through VR headsets. 

“We want to embrace this virtual world and these emerging technologies with education,” said Chechu Lasheras, the executive director of emerging technologies at MDCTech.

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