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UFS students to compete in the International Super Computing (ISC) Student Cluster Competition

15 January 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

CHPC students read more — The top finishing UFS team, Team 5, consisting of Nhlonipho Shezi, Kgoboketso Mphahlele, Albert van Eck (mentor), Itumeleng Khaka, and Bophelo Pharasi came third during the national round of the National Integrated Cyber Infrastructure Systems (NICIS) CHPC’s Student Cluster Competition.

Two students from the University of the Free State (UFS) who took part in the National Integrated Cyber Infrastructure Systems (NICIS) CHPC Student Cluster Competition were selected as part of the National Team to compete at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) Student Cluster Competition next year.

Itumeleng Khaka and Nhlonipho Shezi, both currently studying towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Business Management, were part of one of the university’s teams (Team 5) that took third place during the national round of the competition.

Bophelo Pharasi (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Business Management) and Kgoboketso Mphahlele (Bachelor of Computer Information Systems) were the other team members, and Albert van Eck, Head of the eResearch and High-Performance Computing Unit, was their mentor. The UFS entered three teams for the competition.

Another student, Limpho Senatla (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology), was awarded the prize for the female student with the most potential during this competition. Some of the prizes awarded to her include an opportunity to work under the mentorship of sponsors such as Tsolo.io, Diplomics, Intel, and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO).

The other two teams that also participated were Team OptiCompute (mentor: Hendrik van Heerden), consisting of Senatla, Siphesihle Mvelase (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Business Management), Ziphezinhle Malinga (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Business Management), Ennosse Mkhutyukelwa (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Chemistry); and Team KKRT (mentor: Zirke le Roux), consisting of Kananelo Nyakallo Mofokeng (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Physics), Boitumelo Ramasike (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Business Management), Kamohelo Kolanchu (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics), and Thabang Maokeng (Bachelor of Computer Information Systems).

Highly stressful and demanding

“Since 2017, the UFS has competed in the CHPC Student Cluster Competition, with various successful outcomes. This year was no exception, with Team 5 winning third place at the national round. All teams endured a highly stressful and demanding round where external factors such as load shedding, late and incomplete hardware deliveries, extreme heat, and sleep deprivation played a role,” says Van Eck.

According to its website, the Centre for High-Performance Computing (CHPC), a division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), annually hosts a Human Capital Development (HCD) programme for undergraduate students currently enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields at South African universities. They undergo training that will take them from zero knowledge of HPC to being able to build mini clusters through various rounds.

The competition is held annually and consists of three rounds: a selection, national, and international round. A team composed of four undergraduate (second-year) students can enter the competition.

This year, twenty teams from eight universities participated in the selection round. Each year, this round is hosted at a different university in the country, with the UFS Bloemfontein Campus playing host this year from 10 to 15 July. During the first round, students were exposed to various technologies and concepts used in HPC and scientific computing. Students were then evaluated according to their technical skills acquired during the selection round, and had to design, present, and defend a cluster design with its network topology.

The national round, for which all three UFS teams qualified, was held at the Kruger National Park from 3 to 8 December.

Travel internationally

According to Van Eck, the students were given a limited budget to procure a small cluster for this round. Students then had to assemble the cluster and start configuring it during this round. After installing and configuring their clusters, students had to install and optimise scientific software. Installing and optimising scientific software is quite challenging. One must consider various technologies such as hardware components, networking, operating systems, compilers, intercommunication between processes, and the functionality of the software.

The winning team in the national round is combined with two members of either the second or third-place winners and two reserves selected from those teams. This team will travel to Austin, Texas, early next year to visit the Texas Advanced Computing Centre (TACC). Students will also undergo more training at Dell Labs in the USA.

The team will compete at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) Student Cluster Competition (SCC) against teams from across America, Europe, and Asia. This competition is held in Germany and sees the best international students competing in the final round. The South African teams have won this round on several occasions.

“The competition takes all students out of their comfort zones. The technologies and methodologies they are exposed to are state-of-the-art in theoretical and computational sciences. In the first round, students are trained by industry professionals on concepts they would otherwise never be exposed to. They come into contact with multiple disciplines within IT, engineering, and some scientific fields. The learning curve during this competition is immense, but students who rise to the challenge reap the benefits in the long run. With prizes such as laptops, prize money, and mentorship from the industry, multiple opportunities can be utilised,” says Van Eck.

Exposure to various technologies

Van Eck says even members from teams that do not make it into the top positions can benefit from exposure to various technologies and networking with other delegates. Leveraging knowledge attained during the competition also enhances one's ability to apply knowledge to other parts of one's career.

“To become an HPC specialist, one must master various field-specific domains, and each of these domains can become a career in itself should a student identify a specific field of more interest to them. This type of exposure is usually only experienced once one enters the workforce. It may be difficult and costly to enter a specific domain by that time. Earlier exposure during a competition like this can assist a student in identifying which fields of science, engineering, or IT they would like to focus on and perhaps later specialise in.”

News Archive

Inaugural lecture: Prof. Phillipe Burger

2007-11-26

Attending the lecture were, from the left: Prof. Tienie Crous (Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the UFS), Prof. Phillipe Burger (Departmental Chairperson of the Department of Economics at the UFS), and Prof. Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).
Photo: Stephen Collet

A summary of an inaugural lecture presented by Prof. Phillipe Burger on the topic: “The ups and downs of the South African Economy: Rough seas or smooth sailing?”

South African business cycle shows reduction in volatility

Better monetary policy and improvements in the financial sector that place less liquidity constraints on individuals is one of the main reasons for the reduction in the volatility of the South African economy. The improvement in access to the financial sector also enables individuals to manage their debt better.

These are some of the findings in an analysis on the volatility of the South African business cycle done by Prof. Philippe Burger, Departmental Chairperson of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Economics.

Prof. Burger delivered his inaugural lecture last night (22 November 2007) on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein on the topic “The ups and downs of the South African Economy: Rough seas or smooth sailing?”

In his lecture, Prof. Burger emphasised a few key aspects of the South African business cycle and indicated how it changed during the periods 1960-1976, 1976-1994 en 1994-2006.

With the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of the business cycle, the analysis identified the variables that showed the highest correlation with the GDP. During the periods 1976-1994 and 1994-2006, these included durable consumption, manufacturing investment, private sector investment, as well as investment in machinery and non-residential buildings. Other variables that also show a high correlation with the GDP are imports, non-durable consumption, investment in the financial services sector, investment by general government, as well as investment in residential buildings.

Prof. Burger’s analysis also shows that changes in durable consumption, investment in the manufacturing sector, investment in the private sector, as well as investment in non-residential buildings preceded changes in the GDP. If changes in a variable such as durable consumption precede changes in the GDP, it is an indication that durable consumption is one of the drivers of the business cycle. The up or down swing of durable consumption may, in other words, just as well contribute to an up or down swing in the business cycle.

A surprising finding of the analysis is the particularly strong role durable consumption has played in the business cycle since 1994. This finding is especially surprising due to the fact that durable consumption only constitutes about 12% of the total household consumption.

A further surprising finding is the particularly small role exports have been playing since 1960 as a driver of the business cycle. In South Africa it is still generally accepted that exports are one of the most important drivers of the business cycle. It is generally accepted that, should the business cycles of South Africa’s most important trade partners show an upward phase; these partners will purchase more from South Africa. This increase in exports will contribute to the South African economy moving upward. Prof. Burger’s analyses shows, however, that exports have generally never fulfil this role.

Over and above the identification of the drivers of the South African business cycle, Prof. Burger’s analysis also investigated the volatility of the business cycle.

When the periods 1976-1994 and 1994-2006 are compared, the analysis shows that the volatility of the business cycle has reduced since 1994 with more than half. The reduction in volatility can be traced to the reduction in the volatility of household consumption (especially durables and services), as well as a reduction in the volatility of investment in machinery, non-residential buildings and transport equipment. The last three coincide with the general reduction in the volatility of investment in the manufacturing sector. Investment in sectors such as electricity and transport (not to be confused with investment in transport equipment by various sectors) which are strongly dominated by the government, did not contribute to the decrease in volatility.

In his analysis, Prof. Burger supplies reasons for the reduction in volatility. One of the explanations is the reduction in the shocks affecting the economy – especially in the South African context. Another explanation is the application of an improved monetary policy by the South African Reserve Bank since the mid 1990’s. A third explanation is the better access to liquidity and credit since the mid 1990’s, which enables the better management of household finance and the absorption of financial shocks.

A further reason which contributed to the reduction in volatility in countries such as the United States of America’s business cycle is better inventory management. While the volatility of inventory in South Africa has also reduced there is, according to Prof. Burger, little proof that better inventory management contributed to the reduction in volatility of the GDP.

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