The University of Macau’s State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City and Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), and the City University of Hong Kong recently held the 2020/2021 International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Macau Regional Contest. As a hybrid event that involved both virtual and in-person elements, the contest attracted students from 34 well-known universities in mainland China During the event, nearly 200 faculty members and students gathered at UM to compete for the regional championship and exchange ideas on programming skills. To promote the interest of middle school students in computer programming, the organizing committee specially invited a total of 12 teams from Macao and Hong Kong secondary schools to join as visitors.
This is the first time that the two-day event has been held in Macao. Participating teams came from various universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Sun Yat-sen University, the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the City University of Hong Kong, and UM. In addition, students from Pui Ching Middle School (Macau), Lou Hau High School (Macau), Hou Kong Middle School, and Pooi To Middle School joined the event as visitors.
Each team in the contest was comprised of up to three students, who had to solve 12 practical programming problems within five hours. Using one computer per team, participants worked together to conduct mathematical analysis, data structure design, and code writing. Participants were required to submit their answer to an online evaluation system when a question was solved. The team that submitted the fewest times and solved the most questions in the shortest cumulative time was awarded the championship and earned qualification for the international finals. The preliminary results showed that the championship was won by Peking University, and the second and third prize were won by Shanghai Jiaotong University and Fudan University.
Launched in 1970, the ICPC is the most influential university programming competition in the world and aims to develop students’ creativity, teamwork, as well as the ability to write codes and solve problems under pressure. So far, 50,000 students from over 3,000 universities around the world have participated in this event. As part of the activities in celebration of UM’s 40th anniversary, this year’s Macao regional competition was organised by UM to promote computer education and to stimulate students’ interest in computer programming, so as to nurture young talent in programming and artificial intelligence for Macao, the Greater Bay Area, and China.
澳門大學科技學院、智慧城市物聯網國家重點實驗室聯同香港城市大學舉辦“2020 / 2021年國際大學生程序設計競賽（亞洲區域賽澳門站）”。澳門站賽事首次結合線上線下形式進行，共吸引來自全國各省市共34所知名大學參賽，近200師生齊聚澳大，共同競逐獎項、切磋技能及促進編程技術的交流。為推廣中學生對計算機程序設計的興趣，組委會更特別邀請數間共12支澳門及香港中學學生隊伍進行考察參賽。
為期兩天的亞洲區域賽事首次於澳門舉行，參賽隊伍包括北京大學、清華大學、復旦大學、上海交通大學、南京大學、中山大學、華中科技大學、香港中文大學、香港科技大學、香港城市大學、澳門大學等。澳門中學考察隊伍包括培正中學、勞校中學、濠江中學及培道中學。每支參賽隊伍由最多3名大學生組成，需在5個小時內解決12道實際編程問題。每隊使用一台電腦，參賽者需要通力合作、爭分奪秒，對問題進行數學分析、數據結構及算法設計與代碼編寫。每解決一道試題後提交給在線評判系統實時判斷正確性。能夠在最短的累計時間，提交次數最少、解決問題最多的隊伍即可獲冠，並將獲得資格進入世界總決賽角逐世界冠軍。經過一番激烈的比賽後，初步結果顯示冠軍由北京大學奪得、亞軍及季軍則由上海交通大學及復旦大學奪得，正式為本屆亞洲區域賽完美地劃上句號。
國際大學生程序設計競賽自1970年開始作為程序設計比拼的平台，培養學生創新能力、團隊精神和在壓力下編寫程序、分析和解決問題能力。至今吸引全球超過3,000間大學及5萬名學生參加，現已發展成為全球最具影響力的大學生程序設計競賽。今屆澳門區域賽由澳大主辦，適逢大學建校40載，作為校慶活動之一，這場賽事將大力推動計算機教育的普及，以及激發更多學生對計算機的興趣與熱情，為澳門、大灣區乃至國家培育未來編程技術與人工智能人才。
