Computer engineering majors claim leading spots in the ACM Palestinian programming contest

Two teams of Birzeit University computer engineering students took leading places in the 2021 ACM Palestinian Collegiate Programming Contest, surpassing 40 other teams of Palestinian students in the competition, which was held at the Palestine Ahliya University on September 22 and 23, 2021.

The programming contest is an annual event aimed at undergraduates at Palestinian universities, with the winners qualifying to the regional and the international levels of the competition, all of which are held under the umbrella of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

At the Palestine Ahliya University, teams of three students, each representing their university, worked to solve real-world problems and develop their coding and software skills. Birzeit University had four student teams enter the competition, “OnFire,” “bzuAshawes,” “RuntimeTerror1,” and “TrioEpic.”

“OnFire,” comprising Bassel Hijaz, Mohammad Melhem, and Mazen Amirya, got first place in the competition, while “bzuAshawes,” composed of Ibrahim Ajaj, Majd Marei, and Mazen Batrawi, got the third place. “TrioEpic,” which was made up of Shahd Abu Daghsh, Asil Sabri, and Tala Swaiti, landed in the sixth place, and  “RuntimeTerror1,” which included Ahmad Nidal, Mohammad Muwafi, and Mumen Hafeth, was ranked 16th overall. The first two teams have qualified for the ACM regional programming contest.

Odeh Masalmeh, who coached the four teams, said that their success at the competition stems from their dedication and perseverance. The students, he noted, trained year-round to hone their skills in programming to solve real-world programs, using algorithms that they themselves designed and tested.

The regional ACM competition will be held later this year, with the winners qualifying for the international rounds, which are set to be held in early 2022.