Students of St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics and Optics Crowned World Champions of the
IBM-sponsored 'Battle of the Brains'
STOCKHOLM, Apr. 22 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet / --
Award Ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall Where the Nobel Prizes
Are Presented
Students from St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics and Optics are crowned the 2009 ACM (ACM)
Champions in the Stockholm Concert Hall where the Nobel Prizes are presented every year. Sponsored by IBM
(NYSE: IBM), the competition took place today at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Finals
challenged the world's top 100 university teams to use open standard
technology in designing software that solve real-world problems. Each team of
three students faced 11
levels of difficulty, all modeled after real-world issues such as creating a
schedule for an airport to safely land planes that allows for changing
weather and other surprises and optimizing rush-hour traffic over collections
of roads.
The teams were awarded medals based on the number of problems they solved
correctly in the shortest amount of time. St. Petersburg State University of
IT, Mechanics and Optics solved nine of the problems. The World Champions
will return home with IBM prizes, scholarships and the "world's smartest"
trophy.
"The complexity of global problems requires special skills and
creativity," said Doug Heintzman, director of IBM software strategy and ICPC
sponsorship executive. "The ACM ICPC finds the leaders of the future and
exposes them to these challenges. IBM provides a global forum here and a real
world at work for these bright minds to exert their capabilities in both
engineering and management."
While in Stockholm, the students experienced local traffic many times,
witnessing first-hand a smart traffic control system
24 square kilometer area of the inner city, the system substantially reduces
the traffic and encourages the use of energy-saving vehicles. It is a live
example of issues to tackle when the students will step into the society.
At the ACM ICPC, a world technology showcase also brought students
hands-on experiences with emerging technologies, which will help generate new
ideas and build careers.
"Serious problems call for great minds and solutions demand a can-do
spirit," said Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC executive director and professor of the
Baylor University. "They are athletes of innovation. They don't just measure
up. They push the limits and have fun doing it. They pave the way to a
Tsinghua University in China, St. Petersburg State University in Russia,
and Saratov State University in Russia finished the competition in second,
third, and fourth places and all won Gold medals.
The regional champions are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (North
America Region); St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics and Optics
(Europe Region); German University in Cairo (Africa and the Middle East
Region); Universidad de Buenos Aires - FCEN (Latin America Region); Tsinghua
University (Asia Region); and University Melbourne (South Pacific Region).
This year's top twelve teams that received medals are:
-- St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics and Optics,
(GOLD, WORLD CHAMPION)
-- Tsinghua University, (GOLD, 2nd Place)
-- St. Petersburg State University, (GOLD, 3rd Place)
-- Saratov State University, (GOLD, 4th Place)
-- University of Oxford, (SILVER, 5th Place)
-- Zhejiang University, (SILVER, 6th Place)
-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (SILVER, 7th Place)
-- Altai State Technical University, (SILVER, 8th Place)
-- University of Warsaw, (BRONZE, 9th Place)
-- University of Waterloo, (BRONZE, 10th Place)
-- I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, (BRONZE, 11th Place)
-- Carnegie Mellon University, (BRONZE, 12th Place)
The 100 teams in the World Finals in Stockholm were selected from 7,109
teams of 1,838 universities from 88 countries on six continents. Since 1997,
the IBM-sponsored ICPC has grown 800% in size.
The 2010 World Finals, sponsored by IBM, will take place in Harbin,
China. The local host will be Harbin Engineering University
About the ACM ICPC
is a global competition among the world's university students, nurturing new
generations of talent in the science and art of information technology. For
more information about the ACM ICPC, including downloadable photographs, and
the complete World Finals roster and final standings, visit ICPC headquarters
About IBM
For more information on IBM software, please visit
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery www.acm.org, is the world's
largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing
educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources
and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing
profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the
highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the
professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long
learning, career development, and professional networking.
representatives or participants in the contest, please contact Meredith Setzman (msetzman@tierneyagency.com)
at (215) 790-4398 or on her cell phone at (610) 283-5447. For high resolution images, please visit
Media Contacts:
Mark Guan
IBM Media Relations
073 726 4317 (Sweden number for day of World Finals only)
Sweden uses country code 46
(914) 766-1658
markguan@us.ibm.com
Tim Willeford
IBM University Programs
(914) 766-3389
twilleford@us.ibm.com
Amanda Carl
Tierney Communications
073 726 4588 (Sweden number for day of World Finals only)
Sweden uses country code 46
(570) 236-4032
acarl@tierneyagency.com
Meredith Setzman
Tierney Communications
Office: (215) 790-4398
Cell: (610) 283-5447
msetzman@tierneyagency.com
SOURCE: IBM
CONTACT: Mark Guan,
IBM Media Relations,
+073-726-4317 (Sweden number for day of World Finals only), Sweden uses country code 46,
+1-914-766-1658,
markguan@us.ibm.com,
or Tim Willeford,
IBM University Programs,
+1-914-766-3389,
twilleford@us.ibm.com;
or Amanda Carl,
+073-726-4588 (Sweden number for day of World Finals only),
Sweden uses country code 46,
+1-570-236-4032,
acarl@tierneyagency.com,
or Meredith Setzman,
+1-215-790-4398,
or Cell, +1-610-283-5447,
msetzman@tierneyagency.com,
both of Tierney Communications
(IBM)
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