IMPA Tech students take part in the first phase of the Programming Marathon

02/09/2024

IMPA Tech students were among the 10 best groups in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the first phase of the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) Programming Marathon. Held this Saturday (31) at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), in Niterói (RJ), the event is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students in Computing and related areas.

Since 1996, the competition has promoted creativity, teamwork skills, the search for new software solutions and the ability to solve problems under pressure. The teams are made up of three students, who try to solve as many of the problems provided as possible over five hours. They only have a computer and printed material at their disposal to win the battle against the clock and the proposed test.

Students Erique Enrique Gomes (PB), Paulo Vitor de Oliveira (MS) and Gustavo Sousa Cardoso (GO) represented the Bachelor of Mathematics in Technology and Innovation and solved five problems. Fresh from their first semester, the students performed very well and were among the 10 best trios in the state of Rio de Janeiro, out of 40 teams taking part.

“I’d never taken part in anything like this before. The experience was very positive, I was surprised by our performance. I realized that we’re on the right track, because we managed to do well even with little training time,” said student Gustavo Cardoso.

The student added that the participation was important for aligning teamwork and worked as an initial test. “Even in the warm-up, we already identified some problems, especially in communication between the group. The participation was important to prepare us for the next challenges. We’re going to study more and we can do even better next year,” he said.

The group was led by Professor Ueverton Souza, who holds a PhD in Computer Science. For him, the participation of the undergraduates already demonstrates great maturity and responsibility. “Just for them to be taking part in this first phase, after their first semester, is already a major milestone. There was no time for specific training, but the aim is to have this year as a first contact and start training for the next editions straight away,” he said.

The challenge is a regional selection for the National Final Programming Marathon, from which students are selected for the Latin American Finals, the “Programmers of America”. From this stage come the teams that will represent Latin America in the ICPC(International Collegiate Programming Contest) World Finals.

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