College students to compete in programming contest at CNU

News Release - Oct. 24, 2006

Public's Contact for publication:
Antonio Siochi
(757) 594-7569
siochi@pcs.cnu.edu

Media Contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — College students from Hampton Roads and Richmond will sharpen their programming skills while competing in the world’s most prestigious programming contest of its kind on Oct. 28 at Christopher Newport University.

The 31st ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM, will gather the best and brightest computer programmers for a “battle of the brains” at CNU’s Gosnold Hall. Competing in the regional competition at CNU are students from CNU, College of William and Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia State University and Virginia Wesleyan College.

In the competition, teams of three students are challenged to use their programming skills and rely on their mental endurance to solve complex, real world problems under a grueling five-hour deadline.

Contestants will be competing in the Hunter Creech Lab. The event is open to the public, although the competition area is restricted to staff and contestants.

CNU is one of eight hosting sites for the seven-state MidAtlantic Region. This year’s regional competitions of the ICPC are expected to include more than 6,000 university teams from 84 countries on six continents, all vying for a spot at the Contest’s World Finals March 12-16, 2007, in Tokyo, Japan.

With IT skills shortages around the world and the rapid pace of change in the technology industry, innovation and collaboration at the university level are essential. This contest gives young computer programmers the opportunity to experience the world’s most advanced technology, an experience that will help pave their developing career paths.

“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.”  
 
For more information on previous contests, problem sets and last year’s final standings, visit http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc. For more information about the event at CNU, contact Site Director Antonio Siochi, (757) 594-7569 or siochi@pcs.cnu.edu.