Invitation to participate
24th Annual Supercomputing Challenge
Register Sept. 1-20 at http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org.
If you want your students to
- Have the research skills required for the process of scientific inquiry
- Be confident with complex math and technological problem solving techniques
in the context of computer science and writing computer programs
- Be able to articulate their own ideas as well as communicate with others
and work as a team
Then your school will want to participate in the Supercomputing Challenge.
The Challenge is organized and administered by Los Alamos and Sandia National
Laboratories, and academic, research and high-technology organizations. The
Challenge draws teams of middle school and high school students who learn to
model important real-world problems and explore computational approaches to
their solutions.
Here are some sample questions teams might wish to answer:
Is our county going to run out of water? Does is rain more on weekends?
How does snow pack affect river flow? What effect do forest fires have
on ecosystems?
How can self-care help in the prevention of disease?
What is the likelihood that the deer population in
Bandelier will run out of grassland?
Teams from around the state participate to learn about the
challenges facing their environment, to better understand properties of the
physical universe, to look at trends in the social sciences that have
implications for their own lives, and to develop useful career preparation
skills such as teamwork, oral, written and visual communication, problem
solving, and project follow-through. After teams have selected a problem
to work on, they choose a programming language that is appropriate for the
kind of modeling and visualization they think their project requires. In
the past, some teams chose Java, Python, or C++
to implement computational models. Other teams elected to model complex
systems using agent based modeling with StarLogo TNG or NetLogo.
The Challenge Year begins with registration in September and
a Kickoff Conference in October. The year continues with an Interim report in
December, Project Evaluations in February, and Final Project Presentations and
Awards Ceremony in April at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Throughout the
year, scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National
Laboratories, New Mexico State University, University of New Mexico and
technology and business companies, mentor students and teacher-sponsors to
provide initial and ongoing training in computational methods and scientific
modeling. They evaluate project ideas, steer student teams towards successful
completion of their work, and evaluate projects at mid-term and final judging
events.
Costs are minimal for students: major funding comes from the
National Labs and other businesses and individual sponsors.
To register, to find out more about our sponsors, to see
past student projects, to read about the awards,
prizes and scholarships presented at Los Alamos,
to learn about the Sandia Spring Tour, or to see if your school has
participated in the past, visit our website at http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org. Please
write to consult1314
@ supercomputingchallenge.org if you have questions or would like to receive more
information. Online registration is at http://www.supercomputingchallenge.org
As New Mexico addresses its workforce needs for the 21st
century, it has become obvious that the 9,000 plus students who have
participated in the Challenge are better prepared to plan for careers in the
high-tech industry. Colleges and employers seek the skills that Challenge
participants develop. We hope that you will encourage your students to form
teams and
Take the Challenge!
Teachers, post the flyer to
solicit students or edit the Word
version of the flyer and add your contact information.
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