October 27, 2005
For Immediate Release
For more information:
Megan Laurie
(801) 863-7149
Written by:
Kyle Chilton
(801) 863-8504
UVSC to Host Computer Programming Competition
Utah Valley State College will be one of four host centers for the Rocky Mountain Regional Contest of the 30th annual Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Program Contest, Saturday, October 29. The regional champion, selected from teams at the four regional sites, will be granted one of 80 spots in the World Finals.
Contest teams of three university/college students are given eight or more real-world problems with a five-hour deadline. Each team has one computer and must rank the difficulty of the problems, deduce the requirements, design test beds and build software systems that solve the problems. The team that solves the most problems in the fewest attempts in the least amount of time is declared the winner.
“Computer programming has changed dramatically over the last three decades, and this contest plays a critical role in preparing students around the world who will be responsible for shaping the IT field for the next 30 years,” said Doug Heintzman, director, technical strategy, IBM software, and sponsorship executive of the ICPC.
UVSC will enter three teams, each coached by Brian Durney, professor of Computing
and Networking Sciences. The teams include Joshua Johnson from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Joshua
Montgomery from Orem, Utah and Nathan Revo from American Fork, Utah; Dan Roach from
Bellevue, Wash., Daniel Haggard from Orem, Utah and Stephen Shaw from Orem, Utah; Brent Jones from Provo, Utah and Caleb Deveraux and Paul Mitchell from Orem, Utah.
There are 55 teams in the Rocky Mountain Region and more than 5,000 worldwide that will vie for one of 80 spots in the World Finals, to be held April 9-13, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas. Teams from more than 1,500 universities in 71 countries will participate in this year.
“The programming contest is a fun opportunity for students to show teamwork and problem-solving skills,” Durney said. “The contest is well-known in the field of computer science and doing well in the competition can help students stand out when they apply for jobs.”
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