Seven Arkansas Tech University students tested their skills against those of other top computer science students during regional competition in the 35th annual Association for Computer Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest on Saturday, Nov. 6.
The Arkansas Tech team of Nick Amis, David Lindecker, Saleng Xiong and alternate Joshua Bice tied for the most problems solved at the Fayetteville regional.
They solved six of the nine problems to match teams from Hendrix College, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Central Arkansas, Harding University and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Ben Goodwin, Nathan Pockrus and Will Swaim of Arkansas Tech also competed in the contest. They solved four of the nine problems. The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, popularly known as the “Battle of the Brains,” challenges college students to use their computer programming skills to solve complex, real-world problems.
To add to the degree of difficulty, the students must do so using just one computer while operating under a five-hour deadline.
Dr. David Hoelzeman, associate professor of computer and information science, oversees the program on the Arkansas Tech campus.
“I have never seen a contest this busy with that many people achieving that much success,” said Hoelzeman, who has served as site administrator for an ACM regional at Arkansas Tech five times since 2002. “I was definitely pleased with where our guys came in.”
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