May 08, 2013 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- The next generation of elite software engineers are slated to meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 30 through July 4 to compete in the 37th Annual World Finals of the IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC).
According to a release, known as the Battle of the Brains, the world's oldest programming contest will be hosted by St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), and will challenge students to solve complex real-world problems under a strict five hour deadline. Of the 120 teams competing in the contest, 17 represent the United States. Each team comprises three students and only one team will emerge victorious to claim "The World's Smartest Trophy."
This year, IBM said, the contest will expose students to key emerging trends and capabilities, such as applying analytics technology to Big Data a major economic growth engine and career opportunity worldwide. Every day, 2.5 quintillion bytes of Big Data are created from a variety of sources such as social media platforms, cell phones, digital photos and videos. By applying analytics technology to Big Data, organizations in all industries can now establish predictive insights that provide a competitive advantage. For example, analytics software is able to help sort through massive amounts of Big Data and establish a real-time alarm system intended to predict rising brain pressure in patients with traumatic brain injuries.
"As the sponsor, our goal is to celebrate excellence in the next generation of computing scientists, and to provide insight and experience that will help them successfully transition into business and technology professionals," said Doug Heintzman, Director of Strategy for IBM Social Business and ICPC Sponsorship Executive. "We expose students to the latest technology areas, such as Big Data, Social Business, Mobile Computing and Cloud Computing. The students are also exposed to a great variety of cultures and ways of thinking." He added, "In St. Petersburg, students will explore IBM's Technology Showcase and network with world-leading technology experts. This is also a great opportunity for IBM to get a good look at the very best and brightest students of computing in the world and we hope to hire, as interns or as permanent employees, many of the contest participants to help us invent the future and build Smarter Planet solutions."
The 120 teams emerged from local and regional ICPC competitions this past fall. Initially, selection took place from a field of more than 300,000 students in computing disciplines worldwide.
"In 1970, the ICPC began as a competition among the universities of Texas and has transformed into a worldwide phenomenon extending throughout northeastern Europe and the Russian Republic in the 1990's," said Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC Executive Director and Baylor University Professor. "We are thrilled to open doors of opportunity for these talented young students as they face real world challenges in a competitive environment. We are excited to see this elite level of talent compete in St. Petersburg with University ITMO as host and IBM as sponsor."
More information:
www.ibm.com/university/acmcontest
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