The University of Tennessee at Martin Department of Computer Science recently hosted a local branch of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. This is the first time in competition history that UT Martin has hosted the event.

"We are pleased to be able to provide this experience both for our students and for others in the region," said Dr. Joshua Guerin, associate professor of computer science. "The feedback we received from our students and the other teams confirmed that our facilities provided a better competition environment than they had experienced in the past."

The local UT Martin competition was one of eight sites in the association's mid-central region and one more than 480 around the world. Seven teams from UT Martin, Murray State University and Tennessee State University competed in the five-hour programming competition simultaneously with other mid-central region participants. Brooks Becton, of Milan; Jeremy Greenburg, of Cordova; and Cody Robertson, of Cornersville, claimed first-place honors in the local event.

UT Martin students Charles Clayton, of Henry, and Carter Crews and Micheal Singleton, both of Dyersburg, were awarded third place locally. Alex Molbert, of Jackson; Chloe Walker, of Bartlett; and Garrett Walker, of Newbern, earned fourth place during the UT Martin competition.

"Many in our discipline would agree that competitive programming is a specialized skill-set somewhat distinct from other areas of computing and software engineering. In our program, we focus on a wide range of computing tools and techniques that serve as a necessary foundation for building a competitive programming skill-set," said Dr. Kathleen Ericson, assistant professor of computer science. "We have the opportunity to focus on advanced applications of numerous problem-solving techniques, and we are happy to see our students reflect the strength of the program."