Khalifa University Team Wins 2016 Gulf Programming Contest

A Khalifa University student team came first at the recent 2016 Gulf Programming Contest (GPC) held in Kuwait. The regional contest attracted around 29 teams from across the Middle East who raced against each other in a difficult real-time problem solving competition.

The team calling themselves the “Travelling Salesmen” consisted of senior students Ahmed Talal Mohamed Ahmed Suliman Khaled Al Kaabi Sultan Alqubaisi and Abdulrahim Naser Eddin. The team worked together to solve several complex real-world problems within a grueling five-hour deadline. The teams used a single computer and raced against the clock in a battle of logic strategy and mental endurance. The questions required the team to use C++ or JAVA to solve problems involving the sorting and sequencing of numbers and other problem solving questions. The Khalifa University won by solving the most problems in the fewest attempts in the least cumulative time.

“We’re very pleased with our teams win at this exciting contest ” said Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi Khalifa University’s Executive Vice President. “The GPC is a challenging competition and it is a testament to the skills and knowledge of our students and their teachers that our team was able to win. Khalifa University believes that it’s extremely important for our students to compete in contests like this one because in addition to providing a venue for them to meet with peers from around the region it gives them a taste of real world challenges that they will eventually face in their careers. We believe that competition is part of a well-rounded education and we encourage our students to engage in these types of challenges whenever they can.”

GPC 2016 offered students majoring in computer science computer engineering management information systems information technology and other IT related subjects an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in programming and problem solving while meeting with other students from around the Gulf.