National Taichung University of Education Wins the High Performance Application Competition 2024

The third edition of the "High Performance Application Competition " was hosted by the National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) under the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), which operates under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The championship and a prize of NT$100,000 were awarded to Team "You Should not Have Been in a Rush" from National Taichung University of Education (NTCU).

To enhance students’ interest and capability in supercomputers and nurture talents in high-performance computing, NCHC has hosted the competition for three years in a row. In this competition, participating teams are expected to engage in system setup, performance tuning, and application problem-solving. NCHC aims to discover potential talents capable of solving problems across various fields using high-performance computing (HPC).

Nine teams participated in the competition this year, with two teams including senior high school student members. These young participants showed remarkable passion and potential. NTCU’s team “You Should not Have Been in a Rush” emerged as the champion. The runner-up was team “HC Special Operations Squad” from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), and the second runner-up was the united team “Lahonara (ラホナラ),” composed of Ming-Dao High School, National Chiayi Senior High School, and Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School. The four teams that received honorable mention awards were NTHU’s team “NTHU-1,” team “YoshiGawa” from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), NTCU’s team “Rabbits Following the Moon,” and the united team “Taiwan mAsters” from National Taiwan Normal University and the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University.

The "High Performance Application Competition" follows a format similar to the "Student Cluster Competition ," testing students’proficiency in supercomputing. This year, each team was provided with two Intel CPUs and eight NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs and was required to remotely log onto the devices to complete tasks, including establishing a basic cluster computing environment, testing and tuning performance, and solving application problems. The two application problems focused on plasma and biomedical applications. The plasma problem required the use of the open-source simulation software PIConGPU to simulate the movement of plasma particles. The biomedical problem was addressed using the molecular dynamics program NAMD, which can simulate the movement of atoms in biomolecules and is useful for the early-stage development of drugs and antibodies. Additionally, two hidden problems were revealed on-site: one involving password recovery and the other computational fluid dynamics.

The winning team, "You Should not Have Been in a Rush," from National Taichung University of Education, expressed that this was their second time participating in the competition. They extended their gratitude to Professor Kuo-Chan Huang from the Department of Computer Science and Coach Jia-Jun Yeh for their year-long dedicated guidance. Throughout the process, the team enhanced their understanding and operational skills with supercomputers, recognizing the importance of the practical application of high-performance computing. They also expressed appreciation to the National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) for providing this valuable platform, which allowed them to meet like-minded peers and mentors, helping them to refine and showcase their abilities. The team plans to apply the knowledge and experience gained to real-world contexts and to mentor their juniors to participate in future competitions.

Dr. Chun-Yuan Lin, the Professor from the Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering at Asia University and a judge representative, explained that the "High Performance Application Competition 2024" was designed with specific training objectives in mind. For instance, performance tuning tested the participants’ understanding of hardware and software, enabling them to optimize performance. The application problems challenged their grasp of parallel computing principles to identify appropriate algorithms for the specific application domain. The hidden challenges tested the teams’adaptability. Overall, the competition played a significant role in knowledge transfer and fostering students’enthusiasm for learning, providing an excellent opportunity to practice teamwork. Professor Yung-Chiang Lan of the Department of Photonics at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), also shared his insights, noting that the application problems were reflective of real-world scientific challenges. By understanding and analyzing these problems, students could utilize their experiences in future research, laying the groundwork for scientific advancement. This competition offered a priceless experience, and it is hoped that more students will engage in this field, solidifying high-performance computing as a critical foundation for future academic and industrial development.

According to NCHC Director General Chau-Lyan Chang, high-performance computing will play an increasingly pivotal role in the future, and students equipped with supercomputer literacy will have a competitive edge. High-performance computing is not only a key tool for scientific research and engineering simulations but also a cornerstone of global economic competition. Taiwan already holds a global leading position in the semiconductor field, and it is anticipated that the field of high-performance computing will continue to advance. More talents in software development, platform setup, and system integration will be nurtured, blending the diverse thinking and innovative potential of young people. This field will become a driving force for technological advancement and economic prosperity. This is a key reason why NCHC hosts this competition.

Presents the championship award to National Taichung University of Education

Presents the runner-up award to National Tsing Hua University.

Presents the third-place award to the joint team of Mingdao High School, Chiayi High School, and Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School.