Presentation
A Retrospective on South Africa's Student Cluster Competition and its Model for Inclusive HPC Outreach and Training (2012-2020)
DescriptionThe Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), South Africa’s national supercomputing facility, launched the Student Cluster Competition (SCC) in 2012 to build HPC awareness and skills among undergraduates. Twenty teams of four students began with an intensive week of training in Linux, cluster design, and system administration. Finalists advanced to a live challenge with self-built clusters, and the top teams represented South Africa at the International SCC at ISC in Germany. From the outset, the program emphasized diversity and inclusion, recruiting from historically disadvantaged communities and addressing key knowledge gaps in HPC system design, administration, and optimization. This rapid teaching model enabled students with little prior exposure to achieve international success: South African teams placed in the top three globally for seven consecutive years. This paper details the competition’s structure, training methods, and outcomes, highlighting its evolution into a recognized platform for inclusive HPC education and global competitiveness.
Event Type
Workshop
TimeMonday, 17 November 202511:45am - 12:10pm CST
Location232
Education & Workforce Development
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