GVSU Students Compete in IBM's 'Battle of the Brains'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Student computer programmers from Grand Valley State University will participate in the regional segment of the world's most prestigious programming competition, the 34th annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest.

They will be competing in the regional division of the "Battle of the Brains" against several universities including: Central Michigan University, Indiana Institute of Technology, Saginaw Valley University, Spring Arbor University, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and University of Windsor.

The regional event will take place on the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor campus on October 31.

The competition consists of a five-hour real-world problem-solving challenge that is equivalent to an entire semester's worth of computer programming. Teams of three will use skills based upon open technology and advanced computing methods to compete for a coveted spot on the World Finals roster. The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time wins this portion of the competition.

The World Finals, held on February 5, 2010 in Harbin, China, will feature 100 three-person teams. This select group of programming students are chosen from tens of thousands of participants from universities in 90 countries and six continents. The competition is sponsored by IBM.