October 8, 2009

Harding students to compete in international programming contest

SEARCY, Ark. — Harding University will send nine students to compete
in the regional Association for Computing Machinery International
Collegiate Programming Contest Oct. 24 at Arkansas Tech University in
Russellville.

This is the 34th annual IBM-sponsored, ACM International Collegiate
Programming Contest (aka The Battle of the Brains) where students from
around the world compete in programming skills and are forced to
critically think while solving problems under a five-hour deadline.
This year’s regional competitions are expected to draw tens of
thousands of students from universities in approximately 90 countries
on six continents.

“Qualifying for The Battle of the Brains is a huge accomplishment,”
said Alan Ganek, chief technology officer and vice president of
strategy for business and technology at IBM Software Group. “These
students are tremendously talented and have the ability to solve
incredibly difficult problems. They have the ability to make our lives
richer and our planet smarter.”

Harding will send three teams to compete in the Mid-Central Regional,
which includes Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.
The top two teams from each region qualify for the World Finals to be
held in Harbin, China, in February.

Harding has been part of the competition every year since 1983 and has
qualified for the world finals twice in 1998 and 2000. The
University’s team finished 22nd in 1998 among the top 60 teams in the
world, which also reflected a top 10 finish among U.S. schools such as
MIT, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley and
Harvard.