University of Arkansas Hosts Collegiate Programming Contest

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The Arkansas Red team. Left to right: Corbin Hughes, Kanat Bektemirov, Grant Slatton

On Saturday, Nov. 2, fifteen teams of college students from Arkansas and Missouri displayed their programming skills in the Association of Computing Machines' International Collegiate Programming Contest. The department of computer science and computer engineering hosted the competition, which was part of the Mid-Central Regional Contest. The regional contest took place simultaneously in nine different locations.

The students competed in teams of three, attempting to solve eight complex, real-world problems in  five hours. The Arkansas Red team from the University of Arkansas, coached by Gordon Beavers, associate professor of computer science and computer engineering, placed first at the University of Arkansas location and 18th overall in the region out of 129 teams.  

Other winning teams at the University of Arkansas contest include the Southwest Baptist Purple from Southwest Baptist University, which took second, the Drury Red team from Drury University, which placed third and the MSU Bear 1 team from Missouri State University, which received fourth place.

Over 30,000 contestants from universities in 91 countries on six continents participate in regional contests. The top five teams in each region will advance to the World Finals to be held in Ekaterinburg, Russia in June 2014. 

The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is touted as the "oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world," according to ACM.  From its beginning in 1970, the contest held its first Finals in 1977 and has operated under the auspices of ACM and headquartered at Baylor University since 1989.