The 1st annual International Educators Programming Contest (IEPC) took place on January 31, 2004 and it was a great success!
There were a total of 6 teams that registered this year though only 5 competed representing: Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Though this years turn out was a little lower then expected, everyone that competed commented they had a great time and stated they are really looking forward to next years competition (which will be held in this Fall). Andy Lerch, a competitor on one of the teams stated in a feedback email:
Prior to competing yesterday, I had no real desire to delve into .NET, and I was very reluctant to switch from Java to another language, just because I was used to Java. How much my mind has changed! Honestly, I doubt I'll ever program in Java again, especially for school.
This year’s competition was geared towards the students having a FUN while being immersed into a new technology .NET. There were 10 problems that all had very basic requirements, but left plenty of room for the teams to develop a unique and creative solution. We felt this was the best choice because most of the competitors had no real previous experience with .NET and programming using the framework may very well be a challenge in it self.
This competition would not have been as successful if it were not for the support from Microsoft as well as Grand Valley State University and the judges from local development companies such as Analysts International and West Michigan Software Development Services . The team that organized and planned this event learned a lot from their first competition and will be striving to make the next one a bigger and better competition.
Please check out the website http://dotnet.csis.gvsu.edu/iepc for contest results, pictures, problems, solutions and information about next year’s competition.