Curtin Sarawak students to compete in IEEE Xtreme worldwide competition

Miri – 5 October 2015 – Student members of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) are set to take part in the upcoming IEEE Xtreme 9.0 Competition, a worldwide virtual online programming competition that requires participants to compete against each other to solve a set of programming problems.

Competing from the Curtin Sarawak campus, the students will form multiple teams of three members each and each team will be monitored by a grade member for quality assurance.

The 24-hour competition will begin simultaneously around the world on 24 October 2015 at 00:00:00 UTC. Teams from all over the world will compete for the ‘World’s Best Programmers’ title and also stand a chance to win a trip to one of hundreds of IEEE’s global technical conferences.

According to past participantand final-year electrical power engineering student Kiew Suk Qin, the questions posed during the competition are very challenging, while Ronny Ling, a third-year computer systems and networking student said the competition not only challenged his coding endurance and decision-making skills but also further spurred his interest in programming.

Participating for the first time, third-year chemical engineering student Terence Chia Yi Kai hopes to enhance his problem-solving skills by applying theories into codes. Fellow student Esther Kueh Yue Ning, a third-year electrical power engineering student, looks forward to competing as she is enthusiastic about the international nature of IEEE Xtreme.

Commenting on the IEEE Xtreme 9.0 Competition, advisor to the IEEE Student Branch of Curtin Sarawak Dr Garenth Lim King Hann remarked that programming language educates and challenges the younger generation to think logically, adding that is a valuable skills set required by virtually all industries in our current information era.

The IEEE Student Branch of Curtin Sarawak has participated in the competition since 2012. To help boost the participants’ confidence and improve their performance, the student branch is organising programming workshops for the registered Curtin Sarawak participants.

The IEEE Xtreme 9.0 Competition is open to students from all institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. For registration or other event enquiries, email Vice Treasurer of IEEE Student Branch of Curtin Sarawak and Malaysia Section IEEE Xtreme Ambassador Lilian Ung at lilian.ung.my@ieee.org.

Alternatively, visit the IEEE Xtreme 9.0 website at www.ieee.org/xtreme for more information or to download the online registration form.The registration deadline is 12 October 2015.

Some of the students who took part in last year’s competition.

Participants spent an entire night in a computer laboratory during the competition.