The University of Michigan 2014 Programming Contest is just around the corner. Are you ready?
As always, the programming contest is a 24-hour hackathon where coders get together and compete in teams for cash prizes. This contest requires that each team write an intelligent bot that will play a game against the other teams. After 20 hours of programming, all of the teams will compete in a tournament to determine the winners. Check out my post on our last hackathon to get a feel for the game requirements.
The cash prizes are pretty sweet:
- Grand Prize – $3,141.59
- Second Prize – $1,414.21
- Third Prize – $602.21
But these competitions aren’t just about the cash. Our hackathons give students a chance to experience a “crunch-time” that has real world consequences for them. Our goal is to give them a feel for what is needed to transition from student to professional programmer.
Meanwhile, we get to observe how well the students work under pressure, how well they work in teams, and which students emerge as natural leaders. It also gives Barracuda and the students the opportunity to get to know each other. We want to draw the best talent to our company, and the hackathons help us do that.