Student cluster competition: a multi-disciplinary undergraduate HPC educational tool

Abstract

National labs, academic institutions and industry have a strong need for scientists and staff that understand high performance computing (HPC) and the complex interconnections across individual topics in HPC. However, domain science and computer science undergraduate programs are not providing sufficient educational resources, and are far from conveying the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the HPC environment. The Student Cluster Competition (SCC) was created as an educational tool to immerse undergraduates in HPC. It is a microcosm of professional HPC centers that teaches and inspires students to pursue careers in the field. The SCC's impact is reflected in new undergraduate curricula and through the experience of the students themselves. The SCC can complement a strong parallel and distributed computing (PDC) curriculum through experiential learning and engagement with the HPC community as a whole, which will prepare graduates for the interdisciplinary nature of work in HPC fields.