Add as a preferred source on Google

The University of New Orleans To Serve as First U.S. Host of International Coding Contest

  • 02/07/18

NEW ORLEANS, LA – The University of New Orleans (UNO) will serve as the first and only site in the U.S. for the 28th International Coding Contest, a worldwide computer science competition. The 2018 contest will take place on April 27 from 8 a.m. to noon on the campus of the university.

The competition is open to all students currently enrolled at a Louisiana higher education institution, including four-year universities, community colleges, and technical schools. The current registration cap is 30 students. To register, visit: https://register.codingcontest.org.

The International Coding Contest is a worldwide competition where students simultaneously compete against each other by solving tricky programming puzzles. The puzzles are provided by Catalysts, an Austrian software company. The inaugural contest took place in Austria in 1999. The current competition attracts more than 4,500 college students from 12 countries and 50 cities.

“The University of New Orleans computer science department is excited to offer our students this unique opportunity as the first American site of the International Coding Contest,” says Mahdi Abdelguerfi, professor and chair of computer science.

UNO is partnering with Flow Digital, a New Orleans-based software engineering and data science firm, to host the competition. Walter Gugenberger, the founder and CEO of Digital Flow, was an exchange student at the University of New Orleans from the University of Innsbruck in 2011.

“Catalysts asked me if I knew a place where they could launch the International Coding Contest in the United States,” Gugenberger says. “I immediately thought of UNO, since I have such wonderful memories of going to school here. Also, as a young entrepreneur in the emerging tech field in New Orleans, I want to show students that they don’t have to leave Louisiana to find their dream jobs.”

After the contest is complete, there will be a networking event, where prizes will be awarded to the top local performers and students can meet with potential employers.

Featured

  • California High School Starts Construction on STEAM, Music Buildings

    Tamalpais High School, part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, recently broke ground on two new major facilities for its campus in Mill Valley, Calif., according to a news release. The district is partnering with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Lathrop Construction Associates for the Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Music Buildings, both replacing their outdated counterparts.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

Digital Edition