UW senior wins national coding competition

Computer Science senior Michael Skinner placed first in his division of the national TopCoder Collegiate Competition in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 2.

The competition evaluated the contestants' abilities to effectively write the best computer program or design the best graphic and was split up into four subsections: algorithm, component, marathon and studio.

More than 26 different countries were represented in the final competition. Skinner competed in the marathon sector against coders from France, Thailand, Sweden and more. Coming into the competition, Skinner was ranked eighth out of the eight finalists, but he placed first in the final to win $15,000 in prize money.

"The only thing I really felt as we got closer to the final results was a rather intense nervousness," Skinner said. "Once the results were final, I really just felt relieved."

For the final round, contestants were required to write algorithms to maneuver a tank to hit targets on a hilly landscape. Hitting the most targets with the least amount of steps was the ultimate goal.

"It all comes down to writing a solution that does well based on a formula they give you," Skinner said.

Stuart Reges, a senior lecturer in the computer science department, said Skinner's win is the most significant accomplishment in the area of programming contests at the UW in the past10 years.

"I hope that he can help to bring greater visibility to our undergraduate

program," Reges said. "As a top-10 department, our research and graduate programs are

well known internationally. But not all UW undergraduates seem to be aware

that they have a chance to get a first-class computer science education that is comparable to what undergraduates get at Stanford,

Berkeley and other top schools. Hopefully Michael's success can help to change that."

Skinner was pleased to win the prize money but was truly thrilled about the international exposure and prestige that comes with winning the competition. He is now rated highly against TopCoders who have excelled in past competitions. He plans to purchase a road bike, some new headphones and many good dinners with the prize money.

This weekend Skinner and two other UW representatives will compete in a regional programming competition, a preliminary round to the international competition this spring. All of the competitors are from the Pacific Northwest region, which extends from Canada to as far south as San Francisco.

"Last year we placed fifth in the region,beating Berkeley and Simon Fraser (two of our toughest competitors)," Reges said. "Butwe lost the regional to Stanford and UBC (University of British Columbia).We hope to do better this year."

Besides upcoming coding competitions and finishing out the school year, Skinner plans to visit Europe with his girlfriend for a few months before entering the workforce as an employee at Google.

[Reach reporter Chantal Anderson at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]