This is the first SCC for the Florida A&M (FAMU) team, and it couldn’t have started much worse. They found out that due to a delivery snafu, their system won’t arrive in time for them to participate in the competition. However, there’s more to the story – and it illustrates the true spirit of the SCC.
Many teams would have called it a day after learning that the system they’ve anticipated working with isn’t going to show up. It’s not like you can run over to Staples and buy another one. Sure, the vendors have systems in their displays, but they don’t keep any spares hanging around, and the systems they do have aren’t necessarily in competitive trim.
Due to the generous help of the SCC staff and other competitors, FAMU wasn’t forced to pack it in. The Colorado team contributed some spare nodes, and other teams also pitched in. I don’t have a full accounting of who gave what and who did what (this is one of those times when it would help if I were a real reporter). But the fact that FAMU has enough hardware to participate at all is a real testament to the spirit of the competition and the character of the participants.
So will FAMU win? It doesn’t really matter – they’re going to compete, and that’s a hell of an achievement given the hand that they were dealt.
Posted In: Latest News, SC 2010 New Orleans
Tagged: Student Cluster Competition, SC 2010, Florida A & M University, Meet the teams