This fall, university students worldwide will sharpen their programming skills as they compete in the world’s most prestigious computer programming competition. The 32nd ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM, will gather the best and brightest computer programmers for an all-out “battle of the brains.”
On Oct. 20, 2007, the University of New Mexico and the University of Arizona will participate in a decisive regional round of problem solving. Teams of three students will be challenged to use their programming skills and rely on their mental endurance to solve 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. The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time will win a coveted spot on the World Finals roster.
This year’s regional competitions of the ICPC are expected to include 6,099 university teams from 82 countries on six continents, all vying for a spot at the Contest’s World Finals. Ninety talented teams will compete for awards, prizes, scholarships, and bragging rights to the “world’s smartest trophy” April 8-12, 2008, in Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada, hosted by the University of Alberta, which is celebrating its 100th year.
Preparation for the “Real World” of Technology
With the rapid pace of change in today’s IT industry, integrated approaches to business and technology at the university level are essential. Through this collaboration between business and academia, The Contest exposes the brightest college and university information technology students around the globe to open source technologies being adopted by innovative businesses and organizations.
In an increasingly competitive global economy, the IT leaders of tomorrow will be pursuing innovations which will come from a fusion of several different disciplines at the intersection of business and technology –These innovations might include designing an instant translation device to enable people of different languages to overcome language barriers, helping commuters get to work faster through burgeoning mass transit systems, or protecting consumers from theft.
“Future innovation and value creation in our industry will come from the creativity of the next generation of engineers and computer scientists,” said Douglas Heintzman, Director of Strategy, IBM Software Group and Sponsorship Executive of the ICPC. “It is vital that we promote and focus on the pursuit of excellence in the field of information technology. IBM’s commitment to the ICPC is an important investment in the future.”
IBM’s sponsorship of the ACM-ICPC is just one of the company’s many university-facing programs focusing on open standards skills. The IBM Academic Initiative is another, offering colleges and universities a wide range of technology benefits including free access to IBM software, discounted hardware, course materials, training and curriculum development to better educate millions of students for a more competitive IT workforce.
Support the local computer programming talent as they battle it out during the regional competitions of the ACM-ICPC in the hopes of advancing to the World Finals. Stay tuned for regional competition results or visit http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/ to get the latest updates. To hear more about this contest, visit www.ibm.com/university/acmcontest to listen to a podcast with Doug Heintzman.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu