ACM ICPC Philippines 2007: The Heat Is On

ACM ICPC Philippines : 200 participants. 50 Teams. 24 Schools. 6 Problems. 3 Hours. 1 Champion.

The heat is on.

Fifty teams from 24 schools are vying for the top spot in the First Philippine National Inter-Collegiate Programming Competition (ACM ICPC Philippines 2007) to be held on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at De La Salle University – Canlubang Campus in Laguna.

This event is being organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP) in cooperation with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The contest director is Dr. Rafael Saldaña, immediate past president of the CSP and ACM ICPC Asia-Manila Site director.
Each competing team consists of 3 students. During the contest, each team contestant will try to outsmart each other by solving 6 problems in 3 hours using a computer. The team with the most number of problems solved at the fastest time wins the competition.
The problems will range from “easy” to “difficult” and will include computer science topics such as data structures, combinatorics, graph algorithms, and computational methods.
The top spots at stake are: First Place (Champion), 2nd Place, and 3rd Place. The top team (or teams) will be given financial assistance to participate in the 2007 ACM ICPC Asia-Singapore regional contest on December 12-13, 2007. In the Singapore Contest, the top teams (usually 3) will qualify to the 2008 ACM ICPC World Finals.

The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) provides college students with opportunities to interact with students from other universities and to sharpen and demonstrate their problem-solving, programming, and teamwork skills. The contest provides a platform for ACM, industry, and academia to encourage and focus public attention on the next generation of computing professionals as they pursue excellence.

From thousands of teams competing in regional contests held from September to December 2007 world-wide, ninety teams will advance to the World Finals. Awards, prizes, scholarships, and bragging rights will be at stake for some of the world's finest university students of the computing sciences and engineering. The 2008 ACM-ICPC World Finals will be held April 6-10, 2008, at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada, hosted by the University of Alberta celebrating its 100th anniversary.

In the 2006 ACM ICPC Asia Manila Site regional contest held at Galleria Manila last year, the top three teams from the Philippines were: First – Ateneo de Manila University, Second – De La Salle University-Manila, and Third – University of the Philippines – Diliman.

The following are the members of 2007 ACM ICPC Philippines Board of Judges:

Dr. Rafael Saldaña (Ateneo de Manila University) - Chair
Dr. Henry Adorna (University of the Philippines - Diliman) - Member
Dr. Eliezer Albacea (University of the Philippines - Los Baños) - Member
Dr. Jaime Caro (University of the Philippines-Diliman) - Member
Dr. Caslon Chua (De La Salle University - Manila) - Member
Dr. Nelson Marcos (De La Salle University - Manila) - Member
Dr. Raymond Todd Melton (Ateneo de Manila University) - Member

The schools that have pre-registered in the ACM ICPC Philippines 2007 are as follows (with the corresponding number of teams):

1. AMA Computer College – Legazpi City (1 team)
2. Asia-Pacific College (2 teams)
3. Ateneo de Davao University ( 1 team)
4. Ateneo de Manila University (7 teams)
5. Ateneo de Naga University (2 teams)
6. Camarines Norte State College (1 team)
7. De La Salle Canlubang (3 teams)
8. De La Salle University – Manila (2 teams)
9. Emilio Aguinaldo College (1 team)
10. FEU-East Asia College (4 teams)
11. Lyceum of Batangas (1 team)
12. Manuel Enverga University Foundation (2 teams)
13. Mapua Institute of Technology (3 teams)
14. MSU – Iligan Institute of Technology (1 team)
15. Naga College Foundation (1 team)
16. Polytechnic University of the Philippines (1 team)
17. San Pedro College of Business Administration (1 team)
18. San Sebastian College (1 team)
19. Technological Institute of the Phils. – Manila (2 teams)
20. Technological Institute of the Phils. – Quezon City (2 teams)
21. University of the Immaculate Conception – Davao (2 teams)
22. University of Saint Louis – Tuguegarao (1 team)
23. University of the Philippines – Diliman (6 teams)
24. University of the Philippines - LosBanos (2 teams)

A related activity being organized by the CSP is the seminar on “Best Practices in Computer Programming and Mentoring Students for National and International Programming Competitions” which will be held at De La Salle Canlubang on October 20. Invited speakers include: Mr. Allan Espinosa, Mr. Christopher Rigor, and Dr. Pablo Manalastas – all members of the Philippine team that has competed in the ACM ICPC World Finals. This seminar is open to the public. Registration cost is PhP 1,000 for professionals and PhP 700 for students. Discounts will be given to members (in good standing) of the Computing Society of the Philippines.

For more information, contact:

THE SECRETARIAT
ACM ICPC Philippines 2007
Tel./Fax. (02) 4266125, (02) 7090907
Mobile: 0928-5043121
E-mail: computingsoc@gmail.com

Or visit the contest website: http://icpc2007manila.blogspot.com