Elite Students Coming to University of Central Florida for North America Collegiate Programming Contest

ORLANDO, Fla., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The top 150 computer programming students on the continent will descend on the UCF's campus from May 26-31 to compete in the North America Championship round of the 2022 International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC).

UCF will host 49 other elite teams of student programmers from institutions across the U.S. and Canada in the North America Championship. Teams including MIT, Harvard, Georgia Tech and others will go head-to-head until winners emerge.

UCF will also host the ICPC North America Programming Camp in conjunction with the championship. The camp will offer student competitors an opportunity to solve simulated World Finals-level competitions, access expert trainers and experience networking opportunities.

More than 20,000 teams from 100+ countries compete annually in regional contests. In March, UCF's team was among the winners of the Southeast USA Regional Programming Contest, earning a spot in the upcoming North America Championship. Only the top 16 or so teams will advance from the North America Championship to World Finals.

Participating universities assemble three-member teams of students who train rigorously to compete at solving real-world computer programming challenges. In this intense battle of the brains, students race against the clock in a competition of logic, strategy and mental endurance.

The competition has drawn big-name sponsors, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), and Tech Grove.

Recruiters from tech companies offer many programming students hefty salaries even before they graduate, in much the same way pro sports teams seek out elite athletes. Student competitors often secure employment with major companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon or Facebook.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and IT occupations is projected to grow 13% from 2020 to 2030, adding about 667,600 new jobs based on the high demand for workers in these fields. The median annual wage for these occupations was $97,430 in May 2021 – substantially higher than the median for all occupations of $45,760.

In addition to hosting the event, UCF is also a longtime competitor. For more than 40 years UCF has been among the best in the nation in ICPC competitions, and in 2018 ranked No. 1 in North America and No. 10 in the world. A UCF team has qualified for the World Finals every year during the past decade.

Contact:
Heather Lovett, UCF Communications
Heather.Lovett@ucf.edu

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SOURCE University of Central Florida