RADFORD – Radford University is a regional competition host for the 34th annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest.

RU students along with collegians from Bridgewater College, Longwood University, Virginia Tech and West Virginia University Institute of Technology will gather on campus on Nov. 7 to compete in the prestigious computer programming competition.

The 2009 regional competitions are expected to include tens of thousands of students from universities in approximately 90 countries on six continents for what is being called a “battle of the brains.”

One hundred regional champions will meet when the contest culminates February 1-6 in Harbin, China. The best and brightest information technology students from around the globe will compete for awards, scholarships, prizes and bragging rights to the “world’s smartest trophy.”

In the regional round, students will participate in a decisive regional round of problem solving. Teams of three students will be challenged to use their programming skills and rely on their mental endurance to solve complex, real world problems under a grueling deadline. Tackling these problems is equivalent to completing a semester’s worth of computer programming in one afternoon! The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time will win a coveted spot on the World Finals roster.