Student computer programming team rises to the top in Chicago area

For the ninth time in 10 years, a team of Concordia University Chicago undergraduate and master's students finished first place among Chicago-area competitors in the IEEEXtreme 24-Hour Programming Competition. Their performance in the annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) contest also placed them sixth in the United States, and 457^th in the world out of more than 8,000 teams. This marks the fifth time that our students have ranked in the top 10 nationally.

The team was made up of CUC students Muhammad Waqas Sindhu (team captain), Jeffrey Schultz and Alexander Lechowicz. Every year since 2013, CUC student teams have made a strong showing in this competition, a global challenge in which college students at all levels compete in a 24-hour period to solve a set of programming problems.

The winning team at work, R-L: Alexander Lechowicz, Jeffrey Schultz, Muhammad Waqas Sindhu

"Our teams, primarily made up of undergraduates with some master's students, demonstrated outstanding skills and determination," says faculty mentor Dr. Victor Govindaswamy, professor of computer science. "Unlike many top-ranking institutions that field PhD students with 6-10 years of programming experience, our students' experience ranges from less than a year to three years."

He adds, "This accomplishment underscores the strength of our program, which develops competitive programming skills from scratch-even for students with limited prior knowledge. This dedication and adaptability position our students strongly for opportunities in the software engineering job market," at companies including Amazon, Verizon, Caterpillar, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Discover, Abbott Laboratories, Capgemini, US Bank, Allstate and Synegen.

The Chicago Section of IEEE has been supporting Chicago's engineers since 1893. IEEE is the world's largest association of technical professionals, with more than 400,000 members worldwide.

Concordia University Chicago offers a BA in computer information systems, a BA and BS in computer science, and an MS in computer science.

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