Ship’s computing programming team stands proudly among teams which include MIT, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Cal Tech, and Stanford that represent the United States at the International Collegiate Programming Contest, held March 28 through April 11 in Prague, the Czech Republic.

The SU team, seniors Carrie Bean and Ben Sauerwine and junior Brady Alleman, came in third in the Mid-Atlantic regional behind Duke and Virginia Tech Universities, earning their trip to the world competition.

“Ever since I joined the programming team, I wanted to make it to the world finals, but I never thought I would. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m very honored to be part of the team,” said Carrie.

Brady is excited to compete and is looking forward to “Meeting people I’ve only talked to and competed against online.” Ben concurs. “It promises to be an exciting learning opportunity.”

The competition sees which team can solve the largest number of diverse problems in the least amount of time and require students to write computer programs and solve complicated mathematical equations. Each team is provided with a single computer and one calculator. The SU team has been practicing each week under the guidance of Dr. Carol Wellington, associate professor of computer science and the team’s coach.

Prague, here they come! The SU computing team, Carrie Bean, Ben Sauerwine, and Brady Alleman, consult with their coach, Dr. Carol Wellington, during a weekly practice session.