Hints for Abstract

For Submission at the Kickoff Conference:

An abstract for the Supercomputing Challenge is a brief description of the scientific problem that your team plans to solve. In the abstract, you must clearly state

• what the problem is, the definition of the problem
• why it is important, the purpose of the project or what results you hope to get
• how you plan to work on it, plan of action or methods you hope to get.

The abstract is helpful to both you and the judges who will access the completed projects. Preparing the abstract helps the team define exactly what its project will be. After you pin down the problem that you will solve, you must devise a plan of action, in other words, decide how you will solve the problem. This plan of action will guide your work during the year. The plan may include doing research, writing a computer program, analyzing data, talking to people in that particular field, and drawing conclusions. The judges will read each abstract to get an initial impression of the project. You can read last year's abstracts at:

http://challenge.nm.org/Archive/98-99/abstracts

Remember abstracts are short and concise, no more than 250 words. Each of the points can be covered in one or two sentences.

Instructions for submitting the abstract:

• Bring a camera ready paper copy of the abstract to the Kickoff Conference. You will use it during the Team Project Development session.
• Before leaving the conference, enter the abstract online in the directory public_html. You must use either the pico or vi editor, OR you can bring the abstract on disk and upload the file to mode.lanl.k12.nm.us without retyping it.
• You will find an abstract template at http://www.challenge.nm.org/abstract.stm This is the file that will be in the public_html directories of Challenge accounts.
• Review the text and CHECK THE SPELLING.
• Submit the abstract with the command submit abstract9900.shtml
• Challenge staff will place your abstract on the Challenge web page.

Teams who need assistance with their abstracts or uploading the abstract will find help with the friendly and knowledgeable Challenge staff.