HPC ADVISORY COUNCIL AND ISC GROUP ANNOUNCE THE 2018 STUDENT CLUSTER COMPETITION

Standout Teams to Demonstrate Mastery in State-of-the-Art High-Performance Computing Disciplines and Technologies at 7th Annual ISC-HPCAC Student Cluster Competition (SCC)

FRANKFURT, Germany, September 15, 2017 – The HPC Advisory Council (HPCAC), the community-led organization dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC) research, outreach and education, and the ISC Group, organizers of Europe’s premier HPC forum, today announced that they have officially kicked off the ISC-HPCAC Student Cluster Competition (SCC) with an open call for team entries inviting international STEM student teams currently enrolled in four-year higher education and undergraduate programs to submit proposals for the 2018 competition. Submissions will be accepted through November 10, 2017. The top twelve teams selected will be announced on November 15, 2017 and face off in Frankfurt Germany during the annual ISC High Performance Conference and Exhibition scheduled for June 24-28, 2018.

Now in its seventh year, the Student Cluster Competition enables international teams to take part in a real-time contest focused on advancing STEM disciplines and HPC skills development. To take home top honors, the teams will have to showcase systems of their own design, adhering to strict power constraints and achieve the highest performance across a series of standard HPC benchmarks and applications.

Showcased at the conference’s closing plenary session, the intense three-day competition will culminate in front of thousands of conference attendees. Students will take center stage, alongside HPC luminaries, for a live ceremony to award and recognize each of the participating teams.

“The Student Cluster Competition provides a real-world hands-on education that directly benefits students and their individual studies,” noted Gilad Shainer, chairman of the HPC Advisory Council. “Team members gain access to a wealth of industry expertise, training and tools and hands-on exposure to a range of technologies and techniques they’ll use for competition and throughout their careers. By helping advance their knowledge and capabilities, the entire HPC community benefits.”

“SCC is an opportunity to contribute to the ISC tradition of supporting education and our future workforce,” said Martin Meuer, co-chairman of ISC High Performance. “All of our competitors have access to the full conference and our student programs. This is our way of giving back to the community, to the students, their current studies, and future success. We look forward to welcoming the incoming teams and wish all of the entries good luck.”

“Always fierce rivals in the heat of competition, teams establish peer relationships and lifelong friendships. They’re basically building the next generation of the HPC community,” said Pak Lui, principal architect at Huawei Technologies. “That overall experience is an extremely powerful influencer. It fuels the ongoing rivalries and the number of entries submitted from established teams and in attracting entirely new teams,” said the competitions veteran SCC director. “It’s the combination of the individual student and teams total experience, their combined contributions of ingenuity, unity and spirit that makes for such a great competition and is what makes this SCC a world-class championship.”

Visit the HPCAC’s 2018 Student Cluster Competition site for more detailed information and criteria and to submit team entries. Preparation for competition includes working with technology partners to design and build a competitive system from commercially available components, and working with advisors and mentors to master the HPC applications, tools, techniques and tricks that are critical to a team’s overall performance during the live competition.

Advocate the Future of HPC as a Sponsor of the ISC-HPCAC Student Cluster Competition

Interested companies are urged to join the HPCAC and ISC Group in ongoing support of STEM student development to further advance the skills of these next generation HPC experts. Become a SCC sponsor.

Sponsor proceeds go to support student teams and all the costs associated with the live competitions exclusively.

To unite in this visionary collaboration and help fulfill the growing, global demand for STEM expertise a range of sponsor packages and promotions are available including featured brand placements, social media, media coverage and much more.

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

About ISC Group

The ISC Group organizes ISC High Performance the world’s oldest and Europe’s premier conference and networking event for the international HPC community. The group’s portfolio includes the TOP500 site featuring the TOP500 List, which is updated twice a year and provides a well-accepted metric for the 500 most powerful computer systems in the world.

About ISC High Performance

The annual ISC High Performance conference series offer a comprehensive five-day technical symposium focusing on HPC and R&D disciplines, technological development and its application in scientific fields and adoption in commercial environments.

About the HPC Advisory Council

Founded in 2008, the non-profit HPC Advisory Council (HPCAC) is an international organization with over 400 members committed to education and outreach. Members share expertise, lead special interest groups and have access to the technology center to explore opportunities and evangelize the benefits of HPC technologies, applications and future development. The HPCAC hosts multiple annual conferences and STEM challenges worldwide including the RDMA Student Competition in China and the Student Cluster Competition in Germany. Membership is free of charge and obligation. More information: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com.

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