Aggies represent USU at regional programming competition

A trio of Utah State students, Matt Dean, Michael Kamerath and Frost Mitchell, competed at a computer programming competition Saturday, Oct 29 in Salt Lake City.

To their peers at the competition they were known as the Frosted M&M’s.

The International Collegiate Programming Contest is a worldwide competition hosted by IBM, a prominent American tech company.  The regional competition was simultaneously hosted at four different sites from Arizona, U.S.A. to Alberta, Canada.  The Frosted M&M’s competed at the University of Utah against eleven other teams, with fifty-four teams overall competing across the region.   

Contestants were placed in an ordinary computer lab and given five hours to solve ten complex computer coding problems.  With one team member at the computer doing the coding, the other two were responsible for frantically sifting through the packet of problems for their next submission.  

When a problem was solved correctly, the volunteers hosting the competition filled a helium balloon, placing it directly atop the responsible team’s computer.  

“The balloons are definitely… the most fun,” Kamerath said.

After some technical difficulties, the contest results could not be updated, and teams were no longer given balloons.  This added to the overall stress of the environment.

“Panic.  This is what I do for five hours,” Dean said.  “Panic.”

After five grueling hours, the friendship of the Frosted M&M’s was still intact.  In fact, the experience brought them even closer.  In spite of coming in ninth place, or thirty-eighth in the region, the team has high hopes for next year’s competition.  Working under pressure, especially in a group setting, is no small feat.  The Frosted M&M’s exhibited patience, focus and determination at the competition last weekend.

“We’ve got mad problem solving skills,” Mitchell said.

— viviangates29@gmail.com

     @viviangates29