Regional computer programming contest is Nov. 5 at Avery Hall

Computer science and engineering students from as many as 25 schools will be on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus Nov. 5 for the North Central North America Regional competition in the IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest.

Teams are made up of three students, usually two undergraduates and one graduate student, led by a student or faculty coach. The teams face a series of six to eight complex, real-world programming challenges to be completed in just five hours. The problems are designed to test not only programming skill, but also creativity and teamwork. The team that solves the most problems in the least amount of time will advance to the 2006 World Finals in San Antonio, Texas.

UNL will be represented at the competition by five teams.

The North Central North America Regional includes colleges and universities in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and western Ontario. The competition will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Avery Hall on the UNL City Campus.

Worldwide, tens of thousands of students from 68 countries are expected to compete in this year's contest.

Contact: Charles Riedesel, Sr. Lecturer, Computer Science & Engineering, (402) 472-3486