News Summary
Arizona State University’s team made a remarkable achievement at the ICPC World Finals, earning the Highest Honors award. Competing with 140 teams, they finished 13th in official results and 17th overall. This success places ASU among the top North American universities in competitive programming. Their collaborative approach, rigorous preparation, and strategic practices contributed to their performance. The team’s coach, Zilin Jiang, plans to launch an Introduction to Competitive Programming class to inspire future participants. The team aims to expand the competitive programming community at ASU and foster new talent.
Baku, Azerbaijan – Arizona State University’s (ASU) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) team has made a significant mark at the 49th ICPC World Finals held in September 2024. Competing against 140 teams, the ASU team earned a Highest Honors award, tying for 13th place in the official results while finishing 17th overall.
The ASU contingent consisted of computer science student Sahaj Rastogi, mathematics students Benjamin Jeter and Theodore Gossett, and their coach, Zilin Jiang, who is an assistant professor of mathematics at ASU. This achievement places ASU fourth in North America, just behind prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Maryland. Notably, ASU surpassed recognized competitors like Carnegie Mellon University.
During the intense competition held at the Baku Convention Center, the ASU team solved nine challenging algorithmic problems. The ICPC is often described as the “Olympics of college coding,” where teams engage in a five-hour session of algorithmic problem-solving.
The journey to the World Finals was a remarkable one for the ASU team. Zilin Jiang revived the ICPC program at ASU in early 2024, leading the team through rigorous practices and competitions within just eight months. They secured their place in the World Finals by finishing 12th at the ICPC North America Championship in May 2024.
The team’s success can be attributed to their collaborative approach, where they engaged in extensive discussions around problems during travel and meals. They even took tactical steps to enhance their preparations, such as purchasing a matching keyboard for practice. This spirit of teamwork originated from the Mathematics Tomorrow club, which promotes collaboration among students from various disciplines.
Looking ahead, Zilin Jiang plans to introduce an Introduction to Competitive Programming class in Spring 2025. This initiative aims to cultivate more students’ programming skills and appreciation for mathematics. The team is also dedicated to fostering a community for future ICPC participants and mentoring newcomers to the program.
Throughout their preparation and participation in the World Finals, the team expressed a sense of personal growth and increased confidence, with some members admitting that they did not originally envision competing at such a high level. Despite their commendable success, they identified a challenging “ghost problem” that they could not fully solve due to time constraints during the contest.
After the competition, the ASU ICPC team expressed their desire to continue growing the competitive programming community within ASU. This commitment to nurturing future teams highlights their ambition to sustain and enhance the tradition of excellence in programming at the university.
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Additional Resources
- Newswise: ASU Students Close International Coding Contest with Highest Honors
- Wikipedia: International Collegiate Programming Contest
- Newsweek: ASU ICPC Team Achieves Success
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Programming Language
- Google Search: Competitive Programming
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