July 1, 2026 - by CSCS
Competing in the in-person finals against ten teams from leading universities around the world, RACKlette finished ahead of Tsinghua University (China) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), highlighting the exceptional talent and preparation of the Swiss students.
This is the second time that team RACKlette has won this prestigious international competition, which is typically dominated by contestants from East Asian countries.
From classroom to cluster: students gain expertise in supercomputing and AI
Beyond being a world-class competition in its field, the ISC Student Cluster Competition is widely regarded as one of the world's leading training opportunities for the next generation of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) professionals.
Students are challenged to design, build and optimise a high-performance computing cluster while running demanding scientific and AI applications under strict power constraints. The experience develops not only technical expertise but also teamwork, problem-solving and systems engineering skills.
Hands-on expertise in designing advanced computing systems
The team prepared for the competition over several months with guidance from Professor of Computer Science Torsten Hoefler (ETH Zurich) and Senior HPC System Engineer Hussein Harake (CSCS). Their mentorship and technical expertise helped the students prepare for one of the leading international competitions in high-performance computing.
"Congratulations to the ETH Zurich students, their mentors and everyone who contributed to this outstanding achievement. The victory highlights ETH Zurich's strength in educating the next generation of HPC experts, supported by CSCS's hands-on expertise in designing and operating advanced computing systems", says CSCS Associate Director Maria Grazia Giuffreda.
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In this video, the members of the ETH team RACKlette discuss their preparation, strategy, and performance during the Student Cluster Competition at ISC26. We are delighted to share that, since filming, RACKlette has been crowned the winner of the ISC26 Student Cluster Competition — making this interview a particularly special behind-the-scenes look at a championship team before they knew they had won.