Smith Engineering at Queen’s University is about to become the home to one of Canada’s first supercomputing labs exclusively focused on the undergraduate learning experience and AI innovation. With preliminary development and testing currently underway and a rollout planned for the Winter 2026 academic term, the AI Innovation Hub is expected to have a significant positive impact on the nature and focus of the undergraduate learning experience at Smith Engineering.
The initial goal of the hub will be to enable Smith Engineering instructors to fine tune large language models (LLMs) and create reinforcement learning or other types of AI models for use in their courses. The lab will in effect allow the faculty to bring the real impact of AI into the classroom to create enhanced learning experiences.
“We envision a situation where an instructor in chemical engineering can use this resource to build a model that illustrates the difference in viscosity for certain fluids and how this can be manipulated to create dynamic changes in viscosity levels,” says Ryan Grant, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “In a LLM a supercomputer can simulate how different factors can shape and influence the properties of a fluid including all the thermodynamics associated with making changes. That would allow students to 'go under the covers' and dynamically witness changes in concepts and the relative dynamic influence of numerous factors that underpin those changes. In effect, we are fundamentally augmenting their learning experience with AI.”
The core benefit that Grant perceives is how this will allow undergraduate students to gain familiarity with AI as they progress from second to fourth-year instruction and give themselves a foundation for entering the workforce better equipped and prepared to work in a world where AI is quickly becoming an important reality. He believes that fundamentally this will have the potential to enhance academic outcomes as students can more quickly recognize the outcomes generated from the application of AI to a given problem. In doing so, students will be motivated to deepen and expand their understanding of how change and outcomes are created.
“For example, today if you’re looking to understand the fundamentals and the physics behind a bridge structure, it requires you to learn all the math and all the materials beforehand,” says Grant. “That is still a required skill set, but if we can use AI to give you a glimpse of the end goal it can give you a better understanding of what is going on and help you to deepen your understanding of what elements and variables drive outcomes.”
This will allow Smith Engineering students to graduate with a strong understanding of AI and how LLMs can be trained over time and become a more powerful resource to engineers in their future careers. Through the launch of this undergraduate-focused powerful AI resource, Smith Engineering is about to create a new experience and new paths of learning that will help students to learn better and faster and understand systems more holistically.
This aligns strongly with the faculty’s ongoing initiative to Reimagine Engineering Education. The AI Innovation Hub is being beta tested this fall and is expected to be integrated into coursework in the beginning of 2026. Over time, it is expected that what begins with the faculty's computer engineering course will subsequently expand to interdisciplinary learning between computer engineering and other engineering disciplines.
“This lab is a concrete example of how Smith Engineering is creating a powerful new active learning environment that makes a real difference for our students,” says Brian Frank, the DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development at Smith Engineering. “This lab is specifically designed to have small groups interact across disciplines and work together, to gain real benefits from the application of advanced AI capability. Our students will learn how to build out enhanced AI solutions and in doing so create a deeper and more powerful learning experience.”
These AI focused super computing capabilities are being made possible by the support of the Ontario government through the province’s Training, Equipment and Renewal Fund (TERF).
Dell PowerEdge XE servers with PowerScale storage will provide the AI Innovation Hub with the high-performance computing power and scalable data management needed to support complex AI workloads.
“Dell Technologies’ AI infrastructure will empower Smith Engineering students and faculty to harness advanced AI capabilities, creating opportunities for deeper learning and impactful research,” says Pamela Pelletier, Canada Country Leader and Managing Director, Dell Technologies. “Together, Dell and Smith Engineering are transforming learning experiences and preparing students to thrive in an AI-driven world.”
This announcement is one that the Smith Engineering leadership takes immense pride in and is a major milestone in the ongoing effort to Reimagine Engineering Education, which was initiated with the donation of $100 million by alumnus Stephen Smith in November 2023.
“This new AI lab is a game changer for Smith Engineering and puts us at the forefront of engineering education in Canada,” says Kevin Deluzio, Dean of Smith Engineering. “It is a great example of how we are taking great strides to help our students actively solve the world’s most complex problems.”