South Africa’s Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) Team Overall Winner for Third Time, China’s Two-Year Incumbent Tsinghua University Ranked Close Second

Following the success of the 2016 Student Cluster Competition (SCC), which took place at the ISC High Performance conference last month in Frankfurt, Germany, the HPC Advisory Council (HPCAC), together with the ISC Group, today announced the final results of the competition and the opening of 2017 team submissions.

For the third time, South Africa’s Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) student team came away as the SCC Grand Champions, the first ‘three-peat’ in the history of the competition. The overall winners narrowly edged out Tsinghua University, China’s SCC winner from last year, which captured second place. Both teams entered as the competitions’ only two overall champions and ended this year’s contest with the closest scores of any competition to-date. Asia Student Supercomputer (ASC) overall winner Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) won the SCC LINPACK award, with ASC runner-up Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) placing third in the SCC’s overall winner circle. Universitat Politècnica De Catalunya Barcelona Tech (UPC), a.k.a., team ‘Thunderstruck,’ won the hearts of ISC attendees garnering the most votes to take home the SCC Fan Favorite award.

For the 2017 ISC-HPCAC SCC, student teams can submit proposals now through November 11, 2016, through the dedicated competition section on the HPC Advisory Council website. Acceptance notifications will coincide with the SC16 conference held in the U.S. in November, where the 2017 SCC roster will be revealed. Twelve teams will take part in the three-day competition, from June 19-21, 2017, during the 32nd annual ISC High Performance 2017 conference and exhibition, in Frankfurt, Germany.

“SCC is an integral part of the ISC experience. Through this collaboration and competition, we’ve been able to effectively bring international industry together with global education to promote HPC as a rewarding study and career pursuit,” said Martin Meuer, ISC General Co-Chair and Managing Director, ISC Group. “Student teams have access to the full ISC conference. They gain exposure to subject matter experts, industry leaders and exhibitors to explore and expand upon academic or professional areas of interest. In turn, the industry is presented with early insight into their future talent pool. Together, we’re contributing to building a stronger, more experienced workforce, worldwide.”

“SCC helps participating teams develop their unique potential. Students from all over the world are drawn to the competition for the opportunity to experience a real-time, hands-on education in computation, across a range of complex disciplines,” said Gilad Shainer, HPC Advisory Council Chairman. “The competition is designed to supplement their existing studies and provide early exposure to the tools, techniques and technologies that most students would not have access to until they’ve established their careers. Through SCC, they learn essential skills that can be applied to their future careers in HPC, research and development and a range of disciplines, markets and industries.”

Supporting the global demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) talent, the annual competition is open to university teams, comprised of six students and up to two advisors each. In addition to applying the knowledge gained through their education, SCC participants learn valuable new skills, including developing basic proposals, obtaining required sponsorships, securing industry partnerships, and designing a platform to run benchmarks and applications within a limited power budget. The competition also nurtures a healthy competitive spirit, develops comradery, and establishes early professional relationships and even lifelong friendships that might have never occurred otherwise. All of these experiences have become as much a benefit of the SCC as the hands-on live-learning experience itself.

For more information, sponsorship and general questions please email scc@isc-events.com.

Source : ISC Group
with Business Wire