Regional programming contest is Saturday at Avery Hall

A record influx of 45 teams of student programmers from six states will converge at Avery Hall on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus Nov. 3 for the regional round of the 32nd annual Association for Computer Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, sponsored by IBM.

Also known as the "Battle of the Brains," the competition challenges students to solve real-world computer programming problems under a grueling, 5-hour time limit. Each team of three students operates under constraints that demand the utmost individual ability and coordinated teamwork -- the problems are not revealed until the start of the contest and there is only one computer for the entire team.

A record total of 210 teams is registered to compete in this contest which is held simultaneously at 16 sites across the nine states and provinces of the region. All sites are linked by computer. The UNL site has grown to be the largest by far in the region, according to Charles Riedesel, senior lecturer in UNL's Department of Computer Science and Engineering and coach of the five UNL teams that will compete in the regional.

This year's regional winners advance to the World Finals April 6-10 in Banff, Alberta, where the top 90 teams from more than 6,000 entries worldwide will compete.

In the last nine years, six UNL teams coached by Riedesel advanced to the World Finals. Last year's winning UNL team placed 26th of 88 at the World Finals in Tokyo, with only three American teams placing higher.

CONTACT: Charles Riedesel, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science and Engineering, (402) 472-3486