New Mexico students plan adventures in Supercomputing Challenge at Los Alamos National Laboratory next week

Contact: Jim Danneskiold, jdanneskiold@lanl.gov, (505) 667-1640 (03-046)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 15, 2003 -- About 150 high-school students from throughout New Mexico will be at Los Alamos National Laboratory on Monday and Tuesday, April 21-22, for the 13th annual New Mexico High School Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge and Awards Expo.

Student projects will be recognized during an awards ceremony from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. Media representatives who wish to attend should contact the Laboratory's Public Affairs Office.

The goal of the year-long event is to increase knowledge of science and computing; expose students and teachers to computers and applied mathematics; and instill enthusiasm for science in middle and high school students, their families and communities. Any New Mexico high-school or middle-school student is eligible to enter the Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge.

Poster displays of the students' computing projects will be set up in Room 203 of the Los Alamos Research Park on Monday afternoon. Earlier on Monday, participating students will take part in tours, talks and demonstrations with Laboratory technical staff members.

The Supercomputing Challenge was conceived in 1990 by former Laboratory Director Sig Hecker and Tom Thornhill, then president of New Mexico Technet Inc., a nonprofit company that in 1985 set up a computer network to link the state's national laboratories, universities, state government and some private companies. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and John Rollwagen, then chairman and chief executive officer of Cray Research Inc., added their support.

In 2002 the Supercomputing Challenge merged with the former Adventures in Supercomputing program to become the New Mexico Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge, or AiS Challenge.

More information on the New Mexico High School Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge, including a list of student projects, can be found at http://www.challenge.nm.org/ online.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.