CSC News
Student Teams Compete in ACM 'Battle of the Brains' Contest
Congratulations to our three computer science student teams for their strong showing at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals of the 36th ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), or “Battle of the Brains,” held on November 5th.The NC State team made up of Brian Li, Alex Ray, and Joseph Makhatadze (pictured at right) placed third at the Duke University site and placed twelfth out of 166 teams competing in the regional competition. Starting with a stack of eight programming problems, they managed to solve three of them during the five-hour competition. Teams are scored based on both the number of problems solved and how quickly they solve them. Thirty-three teams managed to solve three of the problems, but only five of them did it faster than the NC State team.
The NC State team of Carson Holgate, Sean Reynolds, and Michael Wright solved two of the problems, with quick successes taking them to fourth place early in the competition. They finished in 40th place out of 166 teams in the region, holding the highest position of any team that solved two problems.
The NC State team of Lura Kimbell, Joseph Wiggins and Zack Williford also solved two problems, and finished the competition in 80th place.
All three teams were coached by Dr. David Sturgill. Special thanks to SAS for their sponsorship support of the teams.
The ICPC challenges teams of three students to use their programming skills and rely on mental endurance to solve eight or more complex, real world problems under a grueling five-hour deadline. Tackling these problems is equivalent to completing a semester’s worth of computer programming in one afternoon! Huddled around a single computer, competitors race against the clock in a battle of logic, strategy, and mental endurance. The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time wins a spot on the World Finals roster. The World Finals will be held in May 2012 in Warsaw, Poland.The ACM ICPC is a multitier, team-based programming competition sponsored by IBM. It operates under the auspices of ACM and has its headquarters at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The contest fosters creativity, teamwork, and innovation in building new software programs, and enables students to test their ability to perform under pressure. It is the oldest, largest and most prestigious programming contest in the world.
For more information on the ACM “Battle of the Brains,” click here.
~coates~
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