Emeritus prof. leads computing team to Bulgaria
University of Wisconsin-Parkside emeritus math professor Don Piele will lead a team of students from Louisiana, Virginia, Ohio, and New Jersey to the 21st International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). The USA Computing Olympiad team travels to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, August 8 to 15, 2009, where it will take on competitors from more than 75 countries in a quest for medals.
The USA team returns two members from its medal-winning 2008 quartet in Neal Wu, a junior from Baton Rouge Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, La., and Brian Hamrick, a senior from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va. Wu won a gold medal and Hamrick collected a silver medal at last year's IOI in Cairo, Egypt. They are joined by Wenyu Cao, a junior from Phillips Academy in New Jersey and Travis Hance, a senior at Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio.
The 2009 team was selected from a field of 15 top high school-aged computer programmers during the U.S. Open held in late May and early June at UW-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis. Team selection was made during an eight-day training camp and competition. The USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) conducted six Web-based programming contests to determine the finalists.
USACO is sponsored by USENIX, IBM, ITA Software and Booz|Allen|Hamilton.
For more information, visit www.usaco.org the USACO Web site.