Wooster computer programming teams finish in top three at two spring competitions

Three teams from The College of Wooster competed in two computer programming competitions this spring and returned to campus with first, second, and third place finishes. Team Frankenstein won Ohio Wesleyan University’s four-hour programming contest, competing against about a dozen teams from Wooster, Denison University, and Mount Vernon Nazarene University. At the Denison (University) Spring Programming Contest, Wooster’s Recursive Rebels team placed second and the Commit Conflicts team placed third, in a pool of approximately 20 teams from Denison, Granville High School, Mount Vernon Nazareth, Muskingum, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster.

Members of Team Frankenstein who won the Ohio Wesleyan competition included mathematics and computer science majors Suraj Acharya ’27, Abhishek Manhas ’26, and Soobin Yang ’26, and computer science major and statistical and data sciences minor Anany Sachan ’27. Drew Guarnera, assistant professor of computer science coached the team.

At the Denison contest, representing second place Team Recursive Rebels were computer science majors Quoc Kien Do ’26, Idris Nemsia ’25, and Andre Ebu ’27, and Acharya. Members of the third place Team Commit Conflicts were Sachan, and computer science majors Faith Mac-Iriase ’26 and Mastewal Berhe ’26. Serena Warner ’26 and Aditi Jha ’26, computer science majors, competed as Team Wooster Wildcards. The teams were coached by Alex Nord, assistant professor of computer science.

During computer programming competitions, students work on a set of programming problems that exercise their knowledge of mathematics, algorithms, and data structures at various difficulty levels, Guarnera said. They are evaluated on how many problems they can solve the fastest and most accurately. Time and accuracy break ties between teams that finish the same number of problems. Competitors have no access to the Internet or coaches for assistance. They are given a computer to use with tools to write and run their programs and are permitted to bring books or other paper resources as supporting materials.

The two competitions attract participants from local liberal arts colleges like Wooster and other educational institutions and universities, some of which focus more heavily on dedicated program competition preparation. “Our students also participate in group work opportunities in many of their courses, both in and outside of the STEM fields, which prepares them for collaborative problem-solving and keeps them competitive at these events,” Guarnera said.

The Denison competition was a first for Wooster Wildcards member Serena Warner. “I’m thankful Heather Guarnera invited me to join the competition, where I learned the value of teamwork. My group was only me and another student, and we worked great together. If we had one or two more on our team working on different coding questions, we would have been unstoppable,” she said.

Wooster students and teams are well-rounded with members who are strong in mathematics and computer science, “creating a combined skillset well suited to the challenge,” Guarnera said, adding, “Our Wooster teams did very well in the competitions, and I’m always proud of their efforts.”

“It’s always satisfying to figure out a hard coding question,” Warner said. “Any coding experience is extremely helpful. A lot of these problems are things that train your brain to be able to work with the different data structures in everyday computer science.”

The standard computer science curriculum that includes Data Structures and Algorithms and Algorithm Analysis classes provide the foundational skills used in the competitions. Wooster also offers a quarter-credit course called Problem Seminar, in which students participate in mock programming contests once a week to get a feel for the types of questions and to build their collaborative problem-solving skills. “Our students are also ambitious and practice these types of problems on their own using tools like Kattis and Leetcode to hone their skills and practice for technical job interviews,” Guarnera said.

The competitions enable students to practice the skills they learn in their courses. “Success is a nice resume-boosting accomplishment, and struggles are opportunities for growth and improvement,” Guarnera said. The events also are a social activity that promotes teamwork and problem-solving like a real-world application at a micro-level. “They receive validation for their effort in their courses to master their desired skills and bolster their confidence in their abilities,” he added. “I also hope they have a good time and build or strengthen relationships with their peers.”

Featured photo: Students from the computer science programming teams display the Wooster “W.”

Posted in News on April 28, 2025.