EADS Innovation Works has announced the winners of its Join the Spirit high performance computing competition at a prize giving ceremony held during the 50th Paris Air Show.

The contest challenged graduate students from around the world to submit the fastest code to solve a problem related to aeronautics using multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) on a single computing node. The first prize went to the Kota team comprising students Thuy Diem Nguyen and Chau Khoa Pham from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The runners-up were Thai Son Nguyen and Thi Phuong Nhung Ngo, a team of two Vietnamese students studying at the University of Bolzano in Italy.

The competitors, working alone or in teams of up to three persons, were challenged to create problem-solving codes, which were tested live. They could submit their codes and compare their performance against others via an on-line leaderboard.

Join the Spirit is a contest initiative organised by EADS Innovation Works, which operates EADS' network of research laboratories. Three contests have already been launched on different topics. The aim is to stimulate innovation and promote EADS' relations with universities and their students.

Sébastien Remy, Head of EADS Innovation Works, said: “We are very happy to see that there was strong participation in this contest. It shows that a new generation of computer engineers is ready to work with us and they are more than welcome.”

The award ceremony took place at Le Bourget during dedicated student workshops organized by EADS. Around 25 students watched Sébastien Remy, Head of EADS Innovation Works and Yann Barbaux, Airbus Chief Innovation Officer, present the prizes to the two teams. The winners received an EADS prize of $10,000 and a quadrocopter from Parrot, a global leader in wireless devices for mobile phones. Parrot is also sponsor of the current Join the Spirit contest “Find me if you can”.

About EADS

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2012, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 56.5 billion and employed a workforce of over 140,000.