Olympics tout college as option

Registration has begun for the fifth annual Programming Olympics, giving the Computer Studies department a chance to show why university doesn't have to be a high school student's first choice for computer science.

Each year, high school students across Ottawa compete in the event, which combines programming skills with problem-solving and gives the Computer Studies department a chance to market themselves to potential students.

"It's meant to show we know what we're doing here," said Linda Crane, professor in the Computer Studies department. "University is usually the first choice for computer studies. It's a chance to showcase our facilities and what we do."

With a CSI/Amazing Race theme, the event requires students to create a program from their choice of a list of programming languages that will crack a code and help solve a crime scene style investigation which was put together by Crane and her colleagues. At the same time, students will be sent all over campus with their clues, similar to the television competition The Amazing Race, tracking new clues and information.

"People don't realize programming adapts to all environments," said Crane. "You get to apply it to every topic, solving problems in other fields."

The event has received support from various corporate and community sponsors, including IBM, The New Technology Store, the Ottawa Linux Users Group, and the Capital Computer-Human Interaction Group (CapCHI).

This year, two $500 cash prizes, medals for the first, second and third place teams, and a trophy for the first place team will be up for grabs and more prizes will be announced as they are secured. Last year, prizes have included a laptop and flat screen monitors.

The final event will take place in May after the preliminary round is complete and two weeks of full-time preparation by Crane and her colleagues. The competition can hold approximately 100 participants, and is usually filled.

"We've had a great response," said Crane.  "Certain high schools teach more technology than others. The teachers that embrace technology are the most encouraging."