Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar hosts high school programming competition

The competition was designed to allow high school students to compete against their peers in a computer science-based contest.

The competition challenged 18 teams of three students to work together to solve six computer problems in less than four hours. Students used their knowledge of computer programming languages such as JAVA, C and C++ to solve their problems.

A panel of Carnegie Mellon faculty worked as judges to determine if the programming code executed the correct solution.

“Competitions like this are not just about computer programming skills,” says Lynn Carter, Ph.D., a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. “They are about time management, strategy, team work, planning, communication, deadlines and using resources. These are all skills that you need to be successful in life. Competitions such as these are the best way for students to develop their skills because they can compare and contrast themselves against their peers. This helps them know where they excel and where they need to improve.”

M.E.S Indian School took home first place, solving all six problems well within the allotted time.

Members of the winning team were: Nadeem Moidu, Faizal Naseem and Mishab Bava. The team took home a trophy and QR 100 gift certificates each to Virgin Mega Store.

The American School of Doha captured second place by solving two problems in the shortest amount of time.

Team members were: Omar Al Ani, Elman Sollman and Alexandre Penfield. The members of the second place team each took home a QR 50 gift certificate to Virgin Mega Store.

Other participating schools included: Al Bayan Secondary School for Girls, Omar bin Al-Khattab Scientific School, Wakra Independent School for Girls, Doha Independent School for Boys, Qatar International School, Global Academy International, Raba’a Al-Adweya, Qatar Independent Technical School and Isteklal School.

This is the second year Carnegie Mellon Qatar held the High School Programming Competition. It’s just one of the many outreach programs between the university and local high schools