Intel has finally disclosed the list of teams and team members for the “SC13 Parallel Universe Computing Challenge:” Five teams from the US (including LLNL and ANL), one from China, one from Korea, and one from Germany: http://software.intel.com/en-us/supercomputing#pid-20366-1690

It seems that Intel’s marketing division has some money to spend for charity – $25,000 to be exact. To make its spending as entertaining as possible, they have set up a stage show at SC13 in Denver, Colorado (Nov 17-22, 2013): The “Intel Parallel Universe Computing Challenge.”

Eight teams from the US, Europe, China, and Korea are going to fight in a three-round sudden death tournament. The German team comprises members from Aachen, Darmstadt, Jülich, Dresden, Garching, and Erlangen, and happens to be led by me. According to the rules each match will be 30 minutes, in which the teams have to answer questions and optimize code. The audience will have the chance to answer questions and win prizes, too! So if you happen to be at SC13 and can spare the time, drop by the Intel booth (#2701, see floor plan) and see us fight! See the link above for the schedule.

Honoring one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, the German team has chosen a peculiar war name: The “Gaussian Elimination Squad.” We will take on “Team Milky Way” from China in our first match on Tuesday, Nov 19th, 11:00am. We do not know why they have picked the name of a popular chocolate bar 😉 but probably it was in anticipation of what’s going to happen to them:

Milky Way before elimination

Milky Way after elimination

Now you know why we call ourselves the “Gaussian Elimination Squad.”