ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs Programming Team won the Southeast USA Regional Programming Contest this weekend, beating out 70 competitors to earn a spot in the upcoming North America competition of the International Collegiate Programming Contest.
A total of seven programming teams from ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ competed in this weekendβs event. Another ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ team took second place, and the remaining five ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ teams all finished in the top 15.
Considered the oldest and most prestigious programming tournament, the annual event draws the worldβs top emerging computer programming talent for a battle of logic, strategy and endurance.
This yearβs regional contest featured teams from universities in Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs winning team included graduate student Sharon Barak β21 and junior Daniel West, both studying computer science, and senior Seba Villalobos, who is majoring in mathematics and computer engineering. The experienced trio came in second at last yearβs regional competition, went on to finish in the top 20 in the North America competition and qualified for the World Finals, which was delayed due to the pandemic and will be held in November this year in Bangladesh.
βThey also have participated in multiple contest formats through these Covid-altered times and have shown such great resiliency,β says Glenn Martin β92 β95MS β12PhD, who serves as the teamβs coach.Β βI am super proud of their calmness and ability to adapt both during and between contests.”
During this weekendβs contest, the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ teams solved 11 complex problems in just under five hours. The competition requires teams to work together to solve the most problems in the fewest attempts in the least cumulative time. For example, team members could be tasked with developing a schedule for landing airplanes or effectively routing fire trucks through intersections. Winning requires teamwork and problem-solving coupled with an understanding of advanced algorithms and the ability to work under pressure.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs winning team wonβt have to go far for the 2022 North America competition; it will this year be held for the first time on ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs main campus. The event is scheduled to take place May 26-31, when approximately 50 top teams from across the United States and Canada will square off for a chance to advance to the 2022 World Finals.
A ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ team has qualified for the World Finals every year during the past decade.
