ATLANTA – The Mercer University Binary Bears top computer programming team finished first in the Southeastern Small College Programming Contest on Nov. 13. Sponsored by the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, the competition was held at Spelman College.
The Binary Bears’ top team solved all eight problems in the set, and was the only team to solve every problem correctly. Wofford College placed second in the contest after solving seven problems correctly. Mercer’s second team placed fifth among the 22 teams. The contest was a timed, three-hour event for four-person teams from smaller schools without graduate programs in computer science. The contest is held annually in conjunction with the Consortium for Computing Sciences Southeastern conference.
“The teams did a great job. The top team kept their poise while trailing for the first two hours of the contest,” said. Dr. Andy Digh, associate professor of computer science and Binary Bears adviser. “Each of their solutions passed some difficult test cases, and their solution for the final problem came with 45 minutes left on the clock.”
The first-place team was composed of Chip Bell, a senior computer science major from Juliette; Chris Kirkland, a junior math and computer science major from Newnan; Charles Mood, a senior computational science major from Farr West, Utah; and Eric O’Connor, a senior math and computer science major from Andover, Mass.
Mercer’s fifth-place team included Thomas Evans, a junior computer science major from Richmond Hill; Steven Hussung, a freshman computer engineering major from New Market, Tenn.; Levi Lewis a junior computer science major from Savannah; and Zach Morrison, a senior electrical engineering major from Toccoa.
Mercer now holds seven CCSC titles – 2007 in Myrtle Beach, 2006 in Nashville, 2005 in Hickory, 2004 in Spartanburg, 2002 in Greenville and 1995 in Nashville.
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,200 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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