A talented group of undergraduate students from PolyU has achieved outstanding success in the ASC24 Student Supercomputer Challenge by securing the Group Competition Award and First Prize. This remarkable accomplishment highlights the exceptional skills and dedication of the team members.
The team named Makka Pakka from PolyU comprised five dedicated members, including four students from the Department of Computing and one Year 3 student from the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Zhao Qingsen. All team members enjoyed every aspect of modern science and engineering.
During the ASC24 preliminaries, participants faced two challenging computational tasks: optimizing Large Language Model (LLM) Inference and conducting Seepage Numerical Simulation. In the LLM Inference Optimization Challenge, the teams were tasked with building and refining inference engines using the popular open-source LLM, LLaMA2, to achieve high-throughput inference on provided sample datasets. Out of more than 300 participating teams, the PolyU team, alongside 24 other teams, advanced to the finals and were awarded the First Prize.
In the finals, students were randomly divided into five groups, each comprising representatives from five universities. The PolyU team collaborated with Shanghai University, the Southern University of Science and Technology, Qilu University of Technology, and Southwest Petroleum University to achieve impressive optimization of ParaSeis, showcasing their teamwork and dedication.
Our dedicated PolyU team made remarkable progress despite their limited prior experience in the field and available resources. They diligently designed their clusters, optimized the 70B LLAMA model, and tackled an oil extraction challenge that demanded interdisciplinary expertise. Their efforts included deciphering an undocumented C++ project, understanding its components and underlying mathematical operations, and ultimately enhancing its performance. Through perseverance and a deep passion for engineering, the team learned and achieved success. This competition was not just a test of their technical skills but also represented their dedication to computer science. They embraced the challenge and felt honored to have their efforts recognized with the award and group competition prize.
This outstanding achievement by our dedicated team at PolyU exemplifies the rewards of participating in competitions like the ASC24 challenge. We encourage all students to explore similar opportunities where teamwork, innovation, and a love for learning combine to yield extraordinary results. Participation not only sharpens your skills but also nurtures a sense of unity and academic advancement that extends well beyond the competition's end.
