Recently, the University of Wisconsin-Superior Math and Computer Science (MSC) Club hosted a computer programming competition open to all UW-Superior undergraduates.

A total of 16 students participated in 11 different teams of one or two students. The teams of students competed against each other to solve problems requiring them to write programs meeting exacting requirements. Teams were assigned to one of two divisions: Division 1 if a team member had completed the Algorithms course CSCI 303, and Division 2 if not.

Professor Steve Rosenberg, the MCS Club’s faculty advisor, wrote the questions and solutions for all seven problems in the competition; he also created batches of test cases and loaded them onto the competition’s custom-made database so that the students’ work would be automatically graded in real time during the three-hour event.

When a team scored, the scoreboard (projected onto the big screen in front of the lab room, Swenson 3011) would briefly flash magenta and lime to alert competitors of the news. To make the contest more fun, Rosenberg commissioned artwork from UW-Superior student Evaline Britton, a visual arts major set to graduate this year. Three of the seven problems featured illustrations by Britton.

The Division 1 winner was Team RiceNSpice, consisting of junior computer science majors Jinah Yoo and Edomiyas “Ed” Asmerom.

Everyone stayed after the contest to enjoy pizza and learn as Rosenberg reviewed solutions to the contest problems in the nearby room Swenson 3009.

Except for interruptions during the pandemic, the programming contest has been an annual tradition since 2009, when then-MCS Club president and vice president Antony “Duke” Forster and Marc Campbell inaugurated the event, writing much of the original code that still runs the contest.