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HomeAchieversStudents Compete in ‘Battle of the Brains’

Students Compete in ‘Battle of the Brains’

Belmont students will be competing in the 34th annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, also known as the “Battle of the Brains,” regional competition Oct. 24 at Tennessee Technological University. Tens of thousands of students in more than 90 countries will participate in the global competition, and the top 100 regional champions will go on to compete Feb. 1-6 in Harbin, China.
Six Belmont students will be participating in this year’s competition. Team one, also known as “Force Quit,” includes Ross Buffington, Heather Ellis and Will Proffitt. Team two, also known as “Bandits,” consists of Cory Hughes, Trevor Hinesley and Hank Carter. Jordan Williams is the alternate for both teams.
Students will be challenged to use their programming skills and rely on their mental endurance to solve complex, real world problems under a five-hour deadline. Teammates collaborate to rank the difficulty of the problems, deduce the requirements, design test beds and build software systems that solve the problems under the scrutiny of expert judges. The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time will win a coveted spot on the world finals roster. The best and brightest information technology students from around the globe will compete for awards, scholarships, prizes and bragging rights to the “world’s smartest trophy.”
“The Battle of the Brains is one of the most demanding intellectual challenges,” said Alan Ganek, chief technology officer and vice president of strategy for business and technology at IBM Software Group. “These students possess an amazing talent to solve pressing issues involving transportation, energy, water, climate and health.”
The regional schools participating are Tennessee Technological University, Belmont University, Austin Peay State University, East Tennessee State University, Maryville College, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State, University of North Alabama, Vanderbilt University and Tuskegee University.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students. ACM serves its global membership of 80,000 by delivering technical information and transferring ideas from theory to practice. IBM’s sponsorship commitment to the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is part of a company-wide effort to advance the next generation of computer scientists.

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