Thursday, February 09, 2006

Symantec University Programming Competition Thanks to Carol Muller and MentorNet for alerting me to this nifty competition!  Spread the word!  Participants in the U.S. must be 18 or older (I'm not sure what the age of majority is in Canada), enrolled in a university program, U.S. or Canadian residents.  The competition is sponsored by Symantec and coincides with National Engineers Week.  First prize is $10k!  More detalis below.    CUPERTINO, Calif. - Feb. 7, 2006 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced its first university programming competition aimed at encouraging creativity and innovation in software engineering. Symantec's Programming Competition begins Feb. 22, 2006, and ends March 1, 2006. The competition is open to applicants who are enrolled in a university program in the United States or Canada, are residents of the United States or Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), and have reached the age of majority in their state or province of residence.  Competitors have one week to program an artificial life-form that must survive and thrive in a virtual world.  The software model upon which the competition is based will work on a variety of platforms, enabling students to compete regardless of their computer type. Entrants do not need to have knowledge of a specific programming language to participate in the competition.  Students will develop their programs in a simple, specially designed programming language, offering entrants with even introductory programming knowledge the opportunity to participate. ... The competition coincides with National Engineers Week 2006. To build interest and excitement around the competition and about software engineering, Symantec is partnering with the National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies dedicated to raising public awareness of engineers' positive contributions to our quality of life.  An annual event, National Engineers Week includes a series of programs that promote recognition among parents, teachers, and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy and that motivate young people to pursue engineering careers. ... All eligible entrants will have their submission judged in an identical, automated fashion to ensure that each entrant is on equal footing.  No human or subjective judging will take place and the top three entrants will win cash prizes. Symantec employees and contractors and their relatives are ineligible. The entrant who builds the most efficient and robust virtual organism will win the competition. The first place will receive US $10,000 cash; the second place will receive US $5,000 cash; and the third place will receive US $3,000 cash. All three entrants will win a trip to Symantec's Mountain View, Calif., office to meet with Mark Bregman, Symantec chief technology officer, and Carey Nachenberg, Symantec fellow and chief architect with Symantec Research Labs. For information, eligibility requirements, and the official rules regarding Symantec's Programming Competition, please visit this site.  Applicants must submit their entry via email; competition materials, judging criteria, and complete submission instructions will be available here beginning on Feb. 22, 2006, at noon Pacific Standard Time. All entries must be received by noon Pacific Standard Time on March 1, 2006.  Only one submission per individual entrant is permitted and team entries will not be accepted. 2:17:28 PM    comment []

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