ACM-ICPC Programming contest director discusses HBCU participation (Written for blackdigerati.org)

The IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) is the oldest, biggest, and arguably the most exalted contest of its like in the country. Several historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are registered for regional competition this fall; intent on advancing to next year's World Finals—but they represent just a small fraction of the U.S.'s more than 100 HBCUs.

I discussed the issue of increasing HBCU involvement with ACM-ICPC Executive Director Dr. William Poucher, PhD, and a professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where the contest is headquartered.

"Faculty will champion participation if HBCU alumni, leaders, and students provide support," wrote Poucher.

"It's about an investment of the university community in building folks who see competition as a platform that creates opportunity," Dr. Poucher wrote. "Given the career-making opportunities that happen for folks starting their IT careers with a bang, I see strong reasons for HBCU faculty and leaders to advocate developing a competitive edge for their students."

Some of the HBCUs slated to compete in U.S. regional contests are Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University, and Virginia State University.

The 34-year old ACM-ICPC features teams from six continents that compete regionally every year for the right to advance to the World Finals. The 2010 World Finals, hosted by Harbin Engineering University in Harbin, China, will run February 1-6.

In the competition, sharing a single computer, teams of three build multitier software systems to solve intricate mathematical problems grounded in global and real-world issues like safety, water pollution and finite energy. Accepted programming languages varies between regions, but is generally limited to C, C++, or Java.

The number of problems solved determines rank. Teams that produce the same number of solutions are ranked by least total time for purposes such as issuing awards or determining World Finals qualifiers.

Dr. Poucher sees the contest as a reminder that good things come from people working together to find solutions for issues, with "clear minds and good hearts." He believes "That, together with a couple of decades of dedicated learning and doing," will produce a global coalition capable of delivering a better world to future generations.

Visit the ACM-ICPC homepage for more information, including schedules, registration information, and contest history.