
Team Information
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Established: 1887
Enrollment: 9,179
Mascots: Venom the rattlesnake
This will be the fourth Winter Classic appearance for FAMU teams. They were in the very first competition in 2021, nailing down #1 on HPCG with a very short handed team. They came back in 2022 and were a tough competitor, placing second on HPL/HPCG, the NASA Ames NAS-Par benchmarks, and an informal award for scripting after submitting more than 5,000 jobs for HPL/HPCG alone. 2023 was a tough year for FAMU as they slipped out of the top echelon.
For 2025, it’s a brand new team with five students who are anxious to impress long-time faculty advisor and coach Dr. Hongmei Chi. Good luck, FAMU!
2025 FAMU HPC Rattlers Roster
Vandi Allen
Huruy Bsrat
Inioluwa Kola-Adelakin
Jonathan Walker
Coach/Faculty Advisor: Dr. Hongmei Chi
2023 FAMU Team Roster:
"Greetings, I am Raygen Bostick a third-year Information Technology Student from Tampa, Florida. My core concentrations are Data Analytics and Web Design."
"Greetings I am Samuel Goodman, a third year Computer Science scholar hailing from from Fort Lauderdale, Florida currently attending Florida Agricultural and Mechanical university. Since I was young, technology was all around me. From playing video games to using the computer, I always know that tech would be apart of my future. I’ve always wondered how games run and respond to user input. Overtime, my interest grew deeper into the research of how applications work on mobile devices and how they are made to fit everyday life. This fueled my passion for developing which has led me to the career field of Computer Science."
"My name is Emmanuel Hilliard, I'm a 4th year computer science major from Jacksonville Florida with a deep passion for learning and problem solving. My interests are in machine learning, distributed systems, and cloud computation."
"My name is Reginald Johnson. I am in my 3rd year at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University as a Computer Information Systems major. I am originally from the DMV area and have enjoyed experiencing the big city of professionalism that DC and the metropolitan have to offer. With this, I can also appreciate the more local aspects of the culture, such as the food, sports, and people, which has allowed me to quickly adjust to being in a more rural area like Tallahassee."
"Greetings, I am Trevor Taylor Jr a master’s senior Computer Science major from Miami, FL. I displayed a strong interest in technology with an appreciation for science. I am deeply interested in cyber security and data analytics; He has attended the ECP2023 Conference in Texas presenting research and placed first in the Smokey Mountain Data Challenge 2022 competition for paper."
2022 Competition Highlights
Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University: FAMU competed in the first Winter Classic event last year and have one returning player this year. The team leader, Kawika, was the foundation of the 2021 team and is a time management ninja, as you’ll see from the video. Other than Kawika’s limited exposure to HPC last year, the rest of the team is new to the field. FAMU has put in the work and notched some pretty scores so far in the competition. They’re currently sitting in third place overall, just a handful of points behind the second place Texas Tech Red Raider team. FAMU has also set the world record in terms of the number of jobs submitted in the first two challenges with more than 2,000 HPL jobs and more than 4,500 HPCG jobs. Great use of scripting.