Waterloo holds programming contests every term. 

This is an invitation to all UW students to become involved in our participation 
in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest.  
   (http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/)

The contest has three tiers:

  1.  A University of Waterloo competition, open to all, used to select
      three teams to represent Waterloo in the ACM Contest.  This Competition
      will take place in three parts:  Saturday July 10, and two
      dates in September.
      ALL UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
      PARTICIPATE.  From those who participate, nine eligible students
      will be selected to form three teams to represent Waterloo in world
      competition.  Eligibility depends on the student's age, date of
      first registration at university, and past participation in ACM
      regional and world final competitions.  A detailed flowchart
      determining eligibility may be found here:  

        icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/Regionals/EligibilityDecisionTree.pdf

      Others members of the UW community are welcome to 
      participate in the Waterloo competition, but not eligible to be chosen
      to represent Waterloo in inter-collegiate competition.

  2.  Regional Contests held throughout the world.  Over 7000 teams from
      six continents participate in these contests.  Waterloo is part
      of the East Central Region, and the East Central Regional Contest
      will be held in late October
      (see http://acm.ashland.edu/).
      In previous years the contest has been hosted by Notre Dame
      University (1997, 1996), Michigan (1995), Waterloo (1999, 1998, 
      1994, 1993), Case Western (2000), Sheridan (2001-2006),
      and McMaster (2007-2009).
      Two or three teams from this region advance to the World Finals, but
      at most one team from any one university.  Waterloo has advanced every
      year for the last ten years, and has won the regional competition seven
      of the last ten years.  Waterloo will be entering three teams; in addition
      volunteers are sought to aid in running the contest.

   3. World Finals.  About 100 teams from all over the world participate in
      the world finals. The World Finals will take place in Cairo, Egypt
      in March 2011.
      In past years, the finals have been in Harbin (2010), Stockholm (2009),
      Banff (2008), Tokyo (2007), San Antonio (2006), Shanghai (2005),
      Prague (2004), Beverly Hills (2003), Honolulu (2002), Vancouver (2001),
      Orlando (2000), Eindhoven (1999), Atlanta (1998), San Jose (1997),
      Philadelphia (1996).
      Waterloo has qualified for the finals in each of the last seventeen
      years has been World Champion twice and North American Champion
      several times.

Information on past selection contests held at Waterloo, including past
questions and and introduction to the contest environment, can be found at:

    http://plg.uwaterloo.ca:80/~acm00/

Many more sample questions and an automated judging program can be found at:

    http://acm.uva.es/problemset/

More information on the contest, with helpful hints, will follow.

Please try out!  Many first-timers have ended up at the world finals.

For more information please contact:

    Ondřej Lhoták http://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~olhotak/   (coach)