Thursday, February 28, 2008

University of Texas science and engineering students team, “Texas Codeboys,” qualify for International programming contest in Hungary

By Pegasus News wire

DENTON — For the third year in a row, a group of current and former University of North Texas computer science and engineering students are the only United States team to qualify for the Challenge 24 programming competition to be held in Budapest, Hungary this May.

The "Texas Codeboys" - current students John Rizzo and Michael Mohler, as well as alumnus Jack Lindamood - first qualified for the 2006 competition, and finished 14th out of the top 30 teams competing. Last year, the team finished 19th.

In the qualification round, the "Codeboys" finished fourth, behind two teams from Poland and one from the Netherlands. The next American team to compete, from Johns Hopkins University, finished 123rd and did not qualify for further competition.

As in 2006 and 2007, the "Codeboys" are the only American team competing in the Challenge 24 contest. In fact, they are the only team from the United States to ever qualify for the contest in its eight-year history.

The "Codeboys" are preparing for this year's competition with assistance from their coach and mentor David Keathly, a lecturer in UNT's Computer Science and Engineering Department, and Ryan Garlick, visiting assistant professor of computer science and engineering.

Contest organizers say the major goal of the Challenge 24 competition is to provide an opportunity for students and industry professionals involved in computer science and programming to measure their knowledge and ability in an extreme environment.

"The faculty of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and I are proud of the Texas Codeboys on this repeat performance as the only U. S. team to be qualified for three years in a row," said Krishna Kavi, chair of UNT's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Mohler, a third-year graduate student in computer science and engineering from Cedar Hill, is the son of Gaylord and Artie Mohler. He attended Cedar Hill High School. Rizzo, a senior computer science and mathematics major from Houston, is the son of John and Anita Rizzo of Houston. He attended Kingwood High School in Houston. Lindamood, a 2006 computer science and engineering graduate from Dallas, is the son of Johnnie and Marian Lindamood. He attended the Dallas Science and Engineering Magnet High School.

Source: University of North Texas

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