WARSAW, Poland, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The next generation of elite computer engineers will meet in Warsaw, Poland, May 14 through May 17 to compete in the 36th Annual World Finals of the IBM-sponsored (NYSE: IBM) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). The contest, which is affectionately known as the Battle of the Brains, will be hosted by the University of Warsaw and will challenge students to solve some of the most difficult programming problems in a strict five hour deadline. Of the 112 teams who will compete in the contest, only one will emerge as the winner and claim "The World's Smartest Trophy."

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

The contest, considered the world's oldest and most prestigious, serves as a proving ground for the top collegiate engineers who are encouraged to embrace the latest in business and technology evolution, such as IBM's Smarter Planet initiative and its vision of a new era of computing, which emphasizes the breakthrough of smart systems and software that has the capability to do more than just compute, but also sense, learn, predict and in some ways think.

"As the contest sponsor, our ultimate goal is to celebrate excellence in the next generation of computer scientists, to provide them with insight and perspective that will help them successfully transition from students into business and technology professionals," said Doug Heintzman, Director of Strategy for IBM Collaboration Solutions and ICPC Sponsorship Executive. "Through our sponsorship of the ICPC, we help expose students to the latest in business analytics, smarter commerce, cloud computing and social business as well as vastly different cultures and ways of thinking." He added, "Every year, we are amazed and delighted by the quality of talent this contest attracts and look forward to working with these students as they take the next steps in their careers."

The contest, which attracts thousands of participants from around the world, asks students to solve the most problems in the least amount of time. The problem sets are modeled after real world issues and follow the theme of a Smarter Planet. For instance, the contest will help students understand creative solutions for issues from water management and air traffic control to Web security and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.

"What began as a competition hosted by Texas A&M in 1970, the ICPC has transformed into a worldwide phenomenon. Since IBM became the sponsor in 1997, we have grown to engage universities from every region of the globe," said Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC Executive Director and Baylor University Professor. "We are thrilled to open doors of opportunity for these talented young students as they face real world challenges in a competitive environment. With the University of Warsaw as host, we are thrilled to provide the best of Warsaw to the brightest problem solvers of tomorrow."

In addition to the contest itself, students will explore some of the latest industry advancements at IBM's Technology Showcase and have the opportunity to interact and network with technology experts and executives from IBM. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about and discover the local Polish culture.

The sponsorship in cooperation with the world's largest educational and scientific computing society ACM is just one of IBM's many university-focused programs to better educate millions of students for a more competitive IT workforce. The IBM Academic Initiative offers colleges and universities a wide range of benefits including free access to IBM software, discounted hardware, course materials, training and curriculum development. In addition, IBM offers the Extreme Blue global internship program, which challenges interns to use their technological skills to develop business plans. Since 1999, more than 360 patent disclosures have been submitted from Extreme Blue participants. To date, more than 30 applicants from the United States Extreme Blue program have identified themselves as ICPC contestants.

For more information about the contest and IBM's sponsorship visit www.ibm.com/university/acmcontest/ or listen to the ACM ICPC podcast. Those interested in following the contest can do so via Twitter at http://twitter.com/BrainBattleICPC. For a full list of contest teams, see below.

Participating Schools by Region:

Africa and the Middle East: Alexandria University - Faculty of Engineering ; American University of Sharjah; Cairo University - Faculty of Computers and Information; German University in Cairo; University of Cape Town

Asia: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications; Chennai Mathematical Institute; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Fudan University; Fuzhou University; Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur; Indian Institute of Technology - Madras; Institut Teknologi Bandung; International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad; International Islamic University of Malaysia; Korea University; Kyoto University; Nanyang Technological University; National Taiwan University; National University of Defense Technology; National University of Singapore; Peking University; Seoul National University; Shahjalal University of Science and Technology; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Sharif University of Technology; Sichuan University; Software Engineering Institute of East China Normal University; Tianjin University; Tsinghua University; The University of Electro-Communications; University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; University of Tehran; University of the Philippines - Diliman; University of Tokyo; Wuhan University; Zhejiang University; Zhejiang University of Technology; Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University

Europe: Aalto University; Altai State Technical University; Belarus State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics; Belarusian State University; Charles University of Prague; Delft University of Technology; Eindhoven University of Technology; Jagiellonian University in Krakow; Kazakh-British Technical Institute; Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology; Moscow State University; National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute"; Nizhny Novgorod State University; Poznan University of Technology; Saratov State University; St. Petersburg State University; St. Petersburg State University of IT, Mechanics and Optics; Taurida V.I. Vernadsky National University; Tomsk State University; Udmurt State University; Ufa State Aviation Technical University; Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; University of Bucharest; University of Latvia; University of Warsaw; University of Wroclaw; Ural Federal University; Volgograd State Technical University

Latin America: Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica; Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo; ITESM Campus Puebla; Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru; Universidad de los Andes; Universidad de Buenos Aire - FCEN; Universidad de Guanajuato - CIMAT; Universidad de La Habana; Universidad Nacional de Columbia - Bogota; Universidad Nacional de Cordoba - FaMAF; Universidad Nacional de Ingeniera; Universidad Tecnologica de la Mixteca; Universidade Federal de Campina Grande; Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; Universidade Federal do Parana; Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (DCC-UFRJ); Universidade de Sao Paulo - IME

North America: Carnegie Mellon University; College of William and Mary; Duke University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Harvard University; Illinois Institute of Technology; Iowa State University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Messiah College; Princeton University; Stanford University; University of Alberta; University of British Columbia; University of Central Florida; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana?Champaign; University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; University of Southern California; University of Toronto; University of Tulsa; University of Waterloo; University of Wisconsin - Madison

South Pacific: University of Canterbury; University of South Wales

About the ACM ICPC
Headquartered at Baylor University (http://www.baylor.edu), the ACM ICPC is a global competition among the world's university students, nurturing new generations of talent in the science and art of information technology. For more information about the ACM ICPC, including downloadable photographs, and the complete World Finals roster and final standings, visit ICPC headquarters Web site http://acmicpc.org. A podcast series "Battle of the Brains" is at http://battleofthebrains.podbean.com. RSS feeds are available. For IBM's insights, visit www.ibm.com/university/acmcontest/. Follow the contest on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BrainBattleICPC.

About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology and service provider. Over the last decade, IBM has driven a significant transformation of its business model as the company shifts to higher value areas and improve efficiency of the business. IBM has been building these capabilities to round out the portfolio to address the needs of clients and the society. IBM has 35,000 software engineers in more than 90 research and development laboratories around the globe, who focus on solving real-world business issues for clients in more than 170 countries. IBM invests in high business values and strategic markets such as Business Analytics, Smarter Commerce, Social Business, Cloud Computing, Mobile Computing and Risk Management. IBM Watson is a preview of what's to come in the next few decades as computing intelligence becomes increasingly ubiquitous and pervasive. IBM provides industry solutions in areas such as smarter cities, smarter commerce, energy, utility, financial markets, chemicals, petroleum, electronics, public service, health care, retail, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing, media and entertainment. For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/software.

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery www.acm.org, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.

About University of Warsaw

University of Warsaw (UW), founded in 1816, is the best university and a leading research center in Poland. UW educates almost 66,000 students per year and offers undergraduate, graduate and post-diploma studies; UW also organizes summer schools and vocational courses, initiates interdisciplinary programs and introduces new teaching techniques. Currently, there are 19 faculties and 26 other units, including the Centre of New Technologies, Centre for Preclinical Research and Technology and University Technology Transfer Centre. The high level of scientific research, its connection with the education of students, and the diversity and attractiveness of our teaching determines the position of the University in the country and worldwide. University of Warsaw is listed among the top four percent of the World-Class Universities and is recognized by prestigious international rankings such as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (AKA Shanghai Ranking), the QS Top Universities, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the CHE Excellence Group 2010 (subjects: chemistry, physics).

Media Contact:
Christine Guerrini
For the International Collegiate Programming Contest
Tierney
(215) 790-4365
cguerrini@tierneyagency.com

SOURCE International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC)