Curtin Malaysia students compete in marathon 3-hour programming competition

Miri – 24 November 2017 – 21 students of Curtin University, Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently took part in a marathon 3-hour programming competition which pitted participants against each other to solve a series of programming problems using C, C++ or Java programming languages.

Organised by the university’s student-run Curtin Programming Nation Club, the competition was aimed at instilling a healthy competitive spirit among students and enable them to hone their programming skills.

The open-book competition required participants to solve 10 programming problems with difficulty levels ranging from easy to advanced as fast as they could.

The problems were designed by Terence Tan, senior lecturer in electrical and computer engineering, and Foad Motalebi, Head of the Department of Foundation in Engineering and Science at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science.

According to Foad, who is advisor to the Curtin Programming Nation Club, learning how to code can be very advantageous for engineering students as programming is increasingly used in various engineering fields to solve basic engineering problems and run simulations.

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) student Bong Chu Jun came up tops, followed by fellow ECE student Loo Wei Chuan and Foundation in Engineering and Science student Ngu Wei Jie in second and third place. Bong received a RM500 cash prize while Loo and Ngu won RM250 and RM100 respectively.

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Ir. Professor Lau Hieng Ho presented the prizes to the winners.

Ir. Professor Lau said programming is becoming an essential skill in today’s drive towards digital economy, especially in Sarawak which is making efforts to leapfrog to Industry 4.0 through various digital strategies and initiatives.

He added that engineers and programmers with such skills will be in great demand in the state in the coming years and Curtin Malaysia looks forward to seeing its graduates at the forefront of the state’s digitalisation transformation.

Participants with Ir Professor Lau (centre) and Foad Motalebi (far right).

First-prize winner Bong Chu Jun with Ir. Professor Lau.

Second-prize winner Loo Wei Chuan with Ir. Professor Lau.

Third-prize winner Ngu Wei Jie with Ir. Professor Lau.