MSU team brings home computer science honors

Contact: Bob Ratliff

Mississippi State University students are among the top 10 groups in a regional computer programming competition.

Graduate student Yong Tze Chi of Starkville and seniors Donald E. Goodman Jr. of Columbus and Sara S. Smolensky of Waveland recently finished eighth overall and fifth among universities at the Southeast Regional Programming Competition held on the campus of Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.

Sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and IBM Corp., the competition attracted 77 teams from 35 regional institutions. Top honors went to teams from the University of Central Florida, which along with the Georgia Institute of Technology, wrapped up the top five spots.

MSU was the top-ranked Southeastern Conference school entered in the competition, which also included entries from Auburn University and the universities of Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.

"The annual contest provides schools with an opportunity to recognize students who excel in computer programming," said Donna S. Reese, associate professor of computer science and MSU team coach.

"Our students solved four of the 10 programming programs in the allotted five hours," she added. "Only four other teams solved more."