In the last of their four-part review of SC12, Rich, Dan, and Henry talk about the Student Cluster Competition: the teams, the results, and the way the competition has evolved over the years.

Salt Lake City featured some firsts: an American team won for the first time in the last three SC/ISC competitions; the first all-female team entered the fray; and a new division, the LittleFe, was included.

What’s the path this competition should take in the future? Should it should evolve past LINPACK numbers and better reflect real-world workloads? And perhaps add a Survivor-type obstacle as envisioned by Dan?

Check the Radio Free HPC website for new episodes and more great content from Rich Brueckner of insideHPC, Henry Newman of Instrumental, Inc., and GCG’s Dan Olds.