This past Monday marked the start of a worldwide contest sponsored by IBM centering on its new Cell Broadband Engine, the processing heart of Sony’s PlayStation 3. Students in 25 different countries will have a chance to participate in the challenge which consists of both trivia and innovative components and has a grand prize of $10,000. IBM is challenging students to apply their skills answering the question “What can be done with Cell technology?”
“In today’s global economy, the ability to apply advanced technology, engineering and business thinking in equal parts is a prerequisite for success,” said IBM Executive Vice President for Innovation and Technology Nick D’Onofrio ’67. “This contest gives students a unique opportunity to take the technology underpinnings of the Cell Broadband Engine and then imagine what is possible given their own skills and interests. They are the earliest adopters of these advanced technologies and in the best position to see new opportunities to take full advantage of its capabilities. I can’t wait to see the results.”
IBM expects to see innovative uses for their technology ranging from seismic simulators to medical imaging and from creating development tools to creating business models; the only limit to the submissions are “the imagination and innovation of the student,” IBM stated in a press release announcing the challenge. Participants will need to demonstrate their mastery of the theoretical and practical uses of Cell/B.E. technologies to rise to the top, as they complete an online quiz testing their knowledge of Cell/B.E. trivia, and then develop an innovative software program based on the technology.
The first contest, a trivia challenge, consists of an online quiz accessible from the registration site. The first 300 who complete the quiz and answer all questions correctly will receive a t-shirt. Students who do not answer all questions correctly initially may continue to submit responses until the March 31 deadline for the first challenge.
The second contest, dubbed the “Top Innovator” challenge, requires students to write a software program in one of three categories: application solution, Cell/B.E. based operating system, and programmability. Participants in this challenge receive copies of the Cell Broadband Engine SDK and the IBM Full-System Simulator. Submissions for this challenge are due no later than July 5. There are four prizes for this category, ranging from the $10,000 grand prize to the $2,500 fourth-place prize. All code submitted for consideration must be in either C or C++ and licensed under an Open Source Initiative approved software license. Students may only submit one entry for this challenge.
The contests are open to all full and part-time undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students at various schools including RPI. Full rules and more information can be found by visiting the website: http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/students/contests/cell/index.html.
