2014 Intel Parallel Universe Computing Challenge

The Parallel Universe Computing Challenge (PUCC) returns to SC14, which takes place November 16-21 in New Orleans. The competition begins on November 17, and for four days, eight teams compete to reach the final match the afternoon of November 20. This year’s contest again comprises a supercomputing trivia round followed by a parallel computing code challenge. Both components take place live and on stage in the Intel booth and are hosted by Intel’s James Reinders and Mike Bernhardt. Intel donates $26,000 to a charitable organization selected by the winning team.

This year’s teams are:

The Brilliant Dummies (TBD) – An SC13 team, TBD returns to PUCC for another competition. Representing South Korea’s Seoul National University, the members of TBD are spending extra time studying for the trivia competition.

Coding Illini – Finalists in last year’s competition, the Coding Illini return to try their luck again this year. The members of this team represent the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC).

EXAMEN – Members of EXAMEN come from the Czech Republic, France, and Switzerland and represent the EXA2CT (EXascale Algorithms and Advanced Computational Techniques) project in Europe.

Gaussian Elimination Squad – Reigning champions, the team from Germany returns to defend their title at SC14. Preparation for this year’s competition includes pizza and drinks.

The Invincible Buckeyes – “Buckeye” is the nickname for residents of the state of Ohio, and the members of this team represent Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) and The Ohio State University (OSU). The team plans to prepare by brushing up on trivia, parallel constructs, and Fortran code.

Linear Scalers – The Argonauts of SC13 have been re-christened the Linear Scalers this year. Team members hail from Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Chicago, Illinois. They will prepare for this year’s contest by memorizing sections of James Reinders’ books, with pre-competition stretching and coffee.

SC3 – SC14 PUCC boasts the first team from South America. The team members represent supercomputing interests in Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Venezuela, including several members from Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) in Bucaramanga, Colombia. The team name SC3 derives from Super Computación y Calculo Cientifico, which is the name of the SC and scientific computing lab at UIS.

Taiji – The Taiji team comes to the SC14 competition from China and is led by Professor An Hong, Director of the Computer System Architecture Lab at the University of Science and Technology of China.