Computer programming teams place first, second, fifth in contest

Shippensburg University’s computer programming team won first, second and fifth place in the recent Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators (PACISE) programming contest at Slippery Rock University.

Dane Howard, Logan Kennedy and Rob Koch, the only team to solve six problems, placed first. Casey Boone, Phil Diffenderfer and Brian Lindsay, the only team to solve five problems, placed second. Tristan Dalius, Matt Hydock and A.J. Marx, the fastest team to solve two problems, placed fifth.

“Our first team has learned some important strategies for how to attack the problems and that is the reason that they won this competition,” said Dr. Carol Wellington, professor and chair of the computer science department.

The programming contest included teams from the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Teams of three students each were given a set of problems and the team that coded the solutions to the most problems the fastest wins.

“Our students do well because we practice every week,” said Wellington. The first place team has been together for two years and will return to the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest regional event next year.

“Our second team gives us great hope for the future; it includes a freshman (Brian) and a sophomore (Phil) who, if they keep practicing, hold great potential for regional competitions over the next couple of years,” said Wellington.