SAN ANTONIO – Brainy students worked in teams of three Wednesday to cram an entire semester of work into five hours by solving such computing puzzles as how to connect the gears of a clock when given a specific shaft speed.
Russia’s Saratov State University took an early lead among the 82 teams, having correctly solved five questions in eight attempts. The only U.S. school in the top 10 was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, placing seventh in the early results.
If the real world can be a pretty unfair place, this problem-solving competition could be considered downright cruel. In the finals of the Association for Computing Machinery’s International Collegiate Programming Contest, teams are given just five hours to solve 10 problems that would take ordinary people months to complete.
“When was the last time you heard someone say ‘I need a piece of software in 10 minutes?” said Bill Poucher, the contest’s executive director and a computer science professor at Baylor University, the contest’s administrative headquarters.
In a circular assembly hall that included spectator seating and even walkways covered in artificial turf, two overhead projection screens showed real-time scores.
Competitors huddled around glowing computer screens, chatted with teammates and shuffled stacks of paper as they worked against the looming deadline.
Adding to the hushed tension: As each team solved a problem, a colored balloon rose above their table to let rivals and spectators know where they stood.
For many, it’s like any sporting event – just with lines of computer code instead of balls and nets.
“It’s an intellectual competition, and any competition is a sport,” said Andrew Lopatin, 25, a two-time past winner from St. Petersburg State University in Russia and now a coach for that school’s team.
“It is a very nervous situation,” the quantum computing doctorate student said as he paced the spectator floor wearing black sweat pants and sandals.
The questions for this year’s contest, the 30th annual, were dizzyingly complex.
The competitors must solve each conundrum using programming languages like C+and Java, but the best teams often have someone versed in physics and mathematics as well.
“Computer programming is to what they do as typing is to what a novelist does,” Poucher said.
Winners are determined based on how many correct answers they submit within the time limit. In the event of a tie, the schools are ranked based on how many attempts they needed to submit the right answer.
The first-place team members each get a $10,000 scholarship as well as computer gear from IBM Corp., the event’s main sponsor.
But it’s the recognition that’s considered the biggest reward, said Doug Heintzman, director of IBM’s Lotus division.
“They get bragging rights and they have on their resumes that they were here,” said Heintzman, who added that IBM has hired 80 contest winners over the years. “Inside the head of one of those kids is a cure for cancer or AIDS. It’s sitting out there.”
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