FRANKFURT, Germany, June 20, 2016—During the 31st ISC High Performance conference (ISC16) , the organizing committee of ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge 2017 (ASC) kicked-off the host selection process. From this date, colleges, universities and organizations in the world may submit their applications to the organizing committee in interest of hosting the event. Applicants must satisfy the hardware and software requirements of the organizing committee to ensure that the final is held successfully and safely – to include regulations on field equipment storage, volunteers, reception and other areas. The applicants may submit the application via the official website of ASC: http://www.asc-events.org/ASC17/Apply-host.php. The organizing committee will determine and announce the host according to the one that best fits the required criteria.
After five successful events, the ASC challenge has become widely recognized by colleges and universities in the world. It is the student supercomputer challenge with the largest number of participants and the widest coverage, internationally. Up-to-date, there are thousands of teachers and students participating in the challenge.
ASC16 attracted 175 teams from six continents this year. 16 teams reached the final held in April in Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.
Yang Guangwen, professor and head of the Institute of High Performance Computing at Tsinghua University (host of the final in 2012), said “the challenge provides the students who rarely have a chance to use supercomputers with the stage to display their imagination and creativity, thus bringing about a bright future for supercomputers.”
Gu Yizhong, head of the High Performance Computing Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (host of the final in 2013), said “the combination of Shanghai and the international ASC challenge produces a wonderful reaction, enhancing the influence of high performance computing education and application in the world, while promoting the exchange and training of youth talents in Asia and even the world.”
Xu Ningsheng, academic and president of Sun Yat-sen University (host of the final in 2014), stated that the ASC supercomputer challenge “better promoted relevant discipline construction, education and scientific research of Sun Yat-sen University and helped cultivate talents with international vision.”
Li Ming, president of the School of Mathematical Science, Taiyuan University of Technology (host of the final in 2015), said “the greatest significance of the ASC challenge is to stimulate the interest of undergraduates in the supercomputer and develop the awareness and ability of undergraduates to use the supercomputer.”
Xu Xiaodong, vice-president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (host of the final in 2016), said “We find new demands to give full play to the role of the supercomputer. This requires further efforts of many persons in the application and conversion of demands into an operational model which can be identified by the supercomputer. In this aspect, the ASC challenge plays a role of promotion.”