International Programming Contest: Russia Dominates, America Lags Behind!

Members of the Saratov team (Russia) at the award ceremony

Russian students dominated the top positions in the finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) held in San Antonio, Texas, last week.

Four students from Saratov State University (Russia) ranked in the top 10 for outstanding problem-solving performance. Seven of the top 10 positions were claimed by universities from Europe, with only one student from the United States, an MIT student, making it to the top 10 at rank 8. To achieve a prize in this competition, students had to successfully complete at least 5 out of 10 problems within a 14-hour time limit.

Immediately following the contest, experts raised alarms about the talent shortage in the information technology sector in the leading tech powerhouse, the United States, while highlighting that talent in “rival” countries remains underutilized. The ACM-ICPC is currently the most prestigious international programming competition for students worldwide, and this marks the 30th iteration of the ACM-ICPC.

The winner of this competition is the individual who successfully solves the most problems within the allotted time. Members of the programming team from Saratov State University (Russia), including the first-place student, managed to solve at least 6 out of the 10 problems presented. These students received a scholarship of $10,000 awarded by IBM.

Two students from Poland, representing Jagiellonian University and the University of Warsaw, placed second and seventh, respectively. A student from the Netherlands secured fourth place, while a student from China took fifth place.

American students had a disappointing showing in this competition. Aside from the MIT student in eighth place, only one other American student from California Institute of Technology was ranked, coming in at 15th out of 39, having solved only 2 problems. Other American universities also sent teams but did not make it to the top 39; however, they received honorable mention for their participation in the contest.

This year’s ACM-ICPC featured three students from the Computer Science team of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology: Nguyễn Tường Quân, Nguyễn Đan Thanh, and Phạm Hữu Ngôn. The goal for the Vietnamese team was to break into the top 20 globally.

Readers interested in this competition can click here to download the problem set for reference.

THIÊN TRANG