Computer programming team finishes 18

Coach David Saunders (left), professor of computer and information sciences, with two of the three UD Gold team members, senior Daniel Roche and junior Jason Parrott

3:40 p.m., Nov. 30, 2005--UD’s Computer Programming Team was one of the first to solve multiple programming problems at the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) 2005 International Collegiate Programming Mid-Atlantic Region Contest held on Nov. 12 at Washington College.

UD’s Gold Team was awarded three balloons and a plaque for its swift solution of complicated programming problems at the five-hour computing contest, with 155 teams from 77 schools competing at nine different sites.

UD’s Blue Team also won a balloon for solving one of the eight problems.

The three-person teams each worked with one computer to solve eight problems. After warming up with one practice problem, they collaborated on solving the eight contest problems until they had a solution to submit to the judges.

UD Blue team members (from left) sophomore Frank Bellamy, freshman Ben Karel and freshman Tim Snyder

UD Gold’s quick solution of three problems was impressive, B. David Saunders, professor of computer and information sciences at UD, said. Saunders coached the teams with Ben Breech, a graduate student in computer science and physics.

The UD Gold team--senior Dan Roche, senior Jeff Thornsen and junior Jason Parrott--got its first solution 12 minutes into the contest, making it the first team in the region to solve a problem. The team finished 18th out of 155 teams.

The UD Blue team--freshman Ben Karel, sophomore Frank Bellamy and freshman Tim Snyder--chimed in with its first solution 18 minutes later, finishing 61st out of 155.

Article by Kathy Canavan
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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