Spring Break
IBM computer programming contest to take place at Texas A&M
By: Travis Lawson
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: News
One of the most prominent computer programming contests in the world is coming to Texas A&M University with Texas universities ready to fight for the prize. The University will be having the 34th Annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming contest Friday and Saturday.
Three students from each university will sit at a single computer with a 5-hour deadline to solve different computer problems. The team with the most computer programs that solve the problems wins. A panel of judges will observe the students' work and choose a winner to go on to Harbin, China, for the World finals.
A&M will enter three teams into the contest and associate professor of computer science and engineering John Keyser said it is time to break the winning streak of the University of Texas at Austin this year.
"Unfortunately, UT has been winning recently so we need to end that this year," Keyser said. "It's been sad."
The contest began in 1970 at A&M, and it now involves more than 1,000 universities from all over the world. Baylor University now runs the contest, and IBM provides the money for the contest.
"We created this contest," Keyser said. "It started here as sort of a local thing and it grew from there."
In 2008, the contest included 100 teams worldwide in the finals, and although the Aggies did not make it to Sweden, they did place third in the south central regional, which is made up of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. A&M won south central regional in 2005 where they made it to the World finals in Shanghai.
Three students from each university will sit at a single computer with a 5-hour deadline to solve different computer problems. The team with the most computer programs that solve the problems wins. A panel of judges will observe the students' work and choose a winner to go on to Harbin, China, for the World finals.
A&M will enter three teams into the contest and associate professor of computer science and engineering John Keyser said it is time to break the winning streak of the University of Texas at Austin this year.
"Unfortunately, UT has been winning recently so we need to end that this year," Keyser said. "It's been sad."
The contest began in 1970 at A&M, and it now involves more than 1,000 universities from all over the world. Baylor University now runs the contest, and IBM provides the money for the contest.
"We created this contest," Keyser said. "It started here as sort of a local thing and it grew from there."
In 2008, the contest included 100 teams worldwide in the finals, and although the Aggies did not make it to Sweden, they did place third in the south central regional, which is made up of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. A&M won south central regional in 2005 where they made it to the World finals in Shanghai.
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