Nine computer science students from SIUE competed last week in an international programming competition sponsored by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). SIUE competes regularly in the International Collegiate Programming Competition under the supervision of Dr. Blythe, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at SIUE. Teams consist of 3 students representing higher education institutions. Once the contest begins, each team is provided with one computer and 8 problems which are to be solved in C++. Problem difficulty varies and teams are encourage to complete as many problems as possible in the 5 hours they are alloted because final standings are based on how many problems are solved.

SIUE competed at Webster University which was one of many regional locations for schools to go head to head this year. Our programmers went up against students from Webster University, Saint Louis University, and Washington University and said they enjoyed meeting the competition during breaks. "We met some very smart and interesting people from some of these schools," said one of the SIUE competitors Justin Camerer.

SIUE came in 6th place, however, team members and the coach were very optimistic. "We had a great time but we were cut short on time due to problems with the computer they gave us," Justin Camerer said. "It was a great learning experience but due to some disorganization at the center, we had limited time to solve the problems," Jesse Cook added. Two thirds of the team that attended this competition will be returning in 2008 making this a valuable experience in preparation of next year.

Dr. Stephen Blythe was the coach for the teams which are detailed below.

Teams A: Jesse Cook, Justin Camerer, Shaun Martin

Team B: Brian Pritchett, Jimmy Prager, Mike Moore

Team C: Siyao Gu, Delai Feerer, Scott Miller