Computer Science Students Succeed at APICS Competition

At the recent APICS (Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences) 2009
Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Conference, three of UPEI's
CSIT students took a very respectable fifth place in the Programming
Competition.

Representing team "UPEI Skull Lightning", Peter Workman, Nick MacAulay
and Stanley DeBoer correctly solved two of the six problems presented,
and earned their fifth-place standing in a tableau of 20 teams.  The
programming competition involves solving a series of problems using
either Java or C++, and focuses on the application of efficient
algorithms and creative use of data structures.

"The problems are really very challenging," says Chris Vessey, CSIT's
lab instructor and coach of the three teams.  "To solve even one of
these problems is a notable achievement; solving two is a definitive
demonstration of programming skill and ability."

The first-place finishers, Saint Mary's University "Huskies", solved
four of the six problems; all other teams solved two problems or less,
with their rankings being dependent on the fastest solution times.

Two other teams also competed:  "UPEI Midnight Commandos" with Mike
Berger, Kris Gay and Mark Lightfoot, and "UPEI Retro Pirates" with Max
Ahlquist and Sabina Benjamin.

In addition, Melissa-Kim Stone and Matt King presented summaries of
their summer research work with their supervisor, Dr. David LeBlanc
(Chair, CSIT) during the Computer Science undergraduate plenary research
sessions.

The Faculty and Staff of CSIT congratulate Team UPEI Skull Lightning,
as well as all others who participated in APICS 2009.