The annual ACM Programming Competition was held at UNL November 3. UNL was among 18 sites across the North Central North American Region. UNL did well in the competition with its the top team placing 2nd at the site and 12th regionally. Teams competed for a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia by answering 9 problems developed by former Regional Director Stanley Wileman of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who worked with Dr. Charles Riedesel and several others on the project.
UNL has been successful with its teams in the past, sending teams to world finals eight out of the past fifteen years, and hopes to continue its strong performance in the future. Students are encouraged to consider participating to gain real-world experience with CSE problems, add something exciting to their resume, and develop an affiliation with IBM, who funds the competition.
Detweiler, who participated in competitions as a student, emphasizes that sponsors will use this competition as a recruitment tool, and therefore, it is a good idea for juniors and seniors to get involved. He also says the following about getting involved: "It is a pretty fun event. There is a lot of pressure but time to socialize with other teams before the competition and at the banquet after."
In other competition news, Riedesel was promoted from Site Director to Regional Director after 15 years of involvement in the competition. Detweiler took over his former position. Riedesel's new position requires him to distribute funds across the region and to perform administrative tasks with all sites.
Thinking about competing in future competitions? Take a look at this year's problem set found here: http://acm.unl.edu/2012-contest-questions.