World's Smartest Collegiate Computer Programmers to Interact with IBM's Watson System as Part of IBM-Sponsored "Battle of the Brains"

ORLANDO, Fla., May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 300 university students from around the globe will gather in Orlando, FL., May 27 – 31 to compete in the 35th Annual World Finals of the IBM-sponsored International Collegiate Programming Contest, also known as the Battle of the Brains. The world's oldest and most prestigious computer programming contest, the Battle of the Brains will test the mental endurance of these students as they attempt to solve a semester's worth of computer programming in just five hours.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

Prior to the contest, students will have the opportunity to interact with Watson, IBM's famed-system in a game of Jeopardy! The week will conclude with the World Finals competition on May 30.  The team that solves the most problems correctly, in the least amount of time, will emerge as champions, earning scholarships, internships or employment at IBM (NYSE: IBM), and bragging rights to the World's Smartest Trophy.

Attracting contestants from around the world, the competition challenges university students to solve complex and rigorous real-world problems using open technology and advanced computing methods under a grueling five-hour deadline.

"At IBM, our goal is to prepare the next generation of elite problem solvers and to inspire students by exposing them to the latest technologies including business analytics and cloud computing, and providing a platform for them to prove themselves," said Doug Heintzman, Director of Strategy for IBM Collaboration Solutions and ICPC Sponsorship Executive. "The ICPC is unique in that it brings together business, technology and academia and challenges students from all over the world to go beyond their college curriculums to develop their problem solving skills at an extremely high level of competition."

More than 24,915 contestants representing 2,070 universities from almost 88 countries competed in the fall Regionals competition this year, compared to 840 teams in 1997 when IBM first sponsored the competition. The full list of teams can be found below.

"Since IBM began sponsoring the contest, we've seen immense growth," said Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC Executive Director and Baylor University Professor.  "As we continue to expand the contest reach, we see new faces every year and open doors of opportunity for talent from every point of the globe."  

The 35th Annual World Finals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) brings together the top 105 three-person teams from universities around the world to build systems to solve a dozen problems modeled after real-world business challenges such as cracking complex password codes or re-architecting space plans. These problems are designed to challenge the students' problem-solving savvy and business acumen - key skills sought after by global employers in the new information technology (IT) workforce.

To enhance the learning experience for ICPC participants, IBM has numerous opportunities for the students to learn about how technology is helping the world become more interconnected, instrumented and intelligent.  Through technology demonstrations, including the opportunity to interact with IBM's Watson system, seminars and collaboration with IBM's researchers, students will learn about using automated technologies to reduce a city's traffic congestion and emission; preventing service failures in railcars and other vehicles; tracking food to ensure its safety and freshness; and adopting electronic records to the complex healthcare processes.

IBM's sponsorship in cooperation with leading IT Society ACM, and ICPC World Headquarters at Baylor University is just one of the company's many university-focused programs concentrating on open standards skills. For example, the IBM Academic Initiative offers colleges and universities a wide range of technology benefits including access to IBM software, hardware, course materials, training and curriculum development to better educate millions of students for a more competitive IT workforce.

In addition, during IBM's Extreme Blue global internship program, interns develop technology-based business plans for new products or services that address existing market challenges. Since 1999, more than 360 patent disclosures have been submitted from the Extreme Blue participants worldwide. Underscoring the high caliber of IBM's internship program participants, to date 31 of the United States applicants to Extreme Blue have identified themselves as ICPC contestants.  

For more information about the contest and to listen to the ACM ICPC podcast, visit www.ibm.com/university/acmcontest/ or follow along on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BrainBattleICPC.

Participating Schools by Region:

Africa and the Middle East: Ain Shams University; Alexandria University – Faculty of Engineering; American University of Sharjah; Cairo University – Faculty of Computers and Information; German University in Cairo; King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; University of Stellenbosch

Asia: Amirkabir University of Technology; Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; Beijing Jiaotong University, DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering; East China Normal University; Fudan University; Fuzhou University; Hangzhou Dianzi University; Harbin Engineering University; Harbin Institute of Technology; Ho Chi Minh City University of Science; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur; International Institute of Information Technology – Hyderabad; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Kyoto University; Nanyang Technological University; National Taiwan University; Peking University; Seoul National University; Shandong University; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Sharif University of Technology; Sichuan University; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Tianjin University; Tsinghua University; University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; University of Tokyo; Wuhan University; Zhejiang Normal University; Zhejiang University; Zhongshan University

Europe: Belarusian State University; Donetsk National University; Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg; Jagiellonian University in Krakow; Kazakh-British Technical University; Leiden University; Lviv National University; Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology; Moscow State University; Nizhny Novgorod State University; Novosibirsk State University; Orel State Technical University; Perm State University; Saratov State University; South Ural State University; St. Petersburg State University; St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics, and Optics; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich-VIS; Tara Shevchenko Kiev National University; Taurida V.I. Vernadsky National University; University of Helsinki; University of Warsaw; University of Wroclaw; Ural State University

Latin America: EAFIT University; Instituto Technologico de Aeronautica; Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru; Universidad Catolica Bolivana – La Paz; Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Bogota; Universidad Nacional de Cordoba – FaMAF; Universidad de Buenos Aires – FCEN; Universidad de Guanajuato – CIMAT; Universidad de La Habana; Universidad de les Cienceas Informaticas; Universidad del Valle; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; Universidade Federal do Parana; Universidade de Sao Paulo – Escola Politecnica; Universidade de Sao Paulo – Instituto de Matematica e Estatstica

North America: California State University – Chico; Carnegie Mellon University; Duke University; Harvey Mudd College; Illinois State University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Princeton University; Simon Fraser University; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; University of Alberta; University of California – San Diego; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Maryland; University of Miami; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities; University of Oklahoma; University of Virginia; University of Waterloo; University of Wisconsin-Madison

South Pacific: University of Canterbury; University of South Wales

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery www.acm.org, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.

Media Contact:

Amanda Carl
For the International Collegiate Programming Contest
Tierney
(215) 790-4370
[email protected]

SOURCE ICPC