From April 8 to 13, the 2024 ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge (ASC24) finals took place in Shanghai, showcasing an impressive display of talent and innovation.

Among the participants was the Supercomputing Team from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), clinching the First Prize in the final competition alongside the Group Competition Award.

This triumph marks the team’s fourth consecutive year of claiming a first prize at the ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge finals and the second year of winning a group competition award.

The ASC24, spanning nearly six months, drew participation from over 300 university teams globally, including institutions like Peking University, Sun Yat-sen University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the University of Science and Technology of China, as well as international counterparts such as the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany and the National University of Córdoba in Argentina.

Following rigorous preliminary rounds, 25 teams advanced to the finals, setting a new record for on-site participation.

During the finals, each team was tasked with designing and constructing a small supercomputing system within a 3000-watt power constraint. They then ran and optimized high-performance benchmark applications, including HPL & HPCG, the Large Language Model (LLM) Inference Optimization of AquilaChat2-34B, and the Seepage Numerical Simulation software OpenCAEPoro.

The SUSTech Supercomputing Team also collaborated with Shanghai University, Qilu University of Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to tackle the ParaSeis seismic wave simulation challenge. Their efficient optimization of seismic wave simulations earned them the Group Competition Award.

The Center for Computational Science and Engineering at SUSTech provided invaluable technical support to the Supercomputing Team throughout the competition.

Comprising of five undergraduate students, Yicheng XIAO, Haibin LAI, Hemu LIU, Haoyang QIN, and Junjie QIU, the team’s success underscores the University’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary excellence and nurturing high-level innovative talent.

The ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge is initiated by Asia Supercomputer Community and supported by Asian, European, and American experts and institutions. The main objectives of ASC are to encourage the exchange and training of young supercomputing talent from around the world, improve supercomputing applications and R&D capacity, boost the development of supercomputing, and promote technical and industrial innovation.

This year marks the 11^th edition of the competition, attracting over 10,000 undergraduates worldwide, further cementing its status as a premier arena for showcasing the talents of tomorrow’s leaders in supercomputing.