YSU participated in final stage of ICPC International Programming Contest and hit the record high

The 2 final stages, which should have been held in 2022 and 2023 but had been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent political tensions in the Middle East, finally took place in Luxor from April 14 to 19 of this year.   

According to the results of the semi-final stage held in April 2022, the team of Yerevan State University qualified for the 46th final stage of ICPC.

Vahram Dumanyan, the Armenian Regional Contents Director of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), highlighted the significance of the contest and YSU's participation, stating, "The ICPC is the world's most prestigious contest in this field. Out of over 3,000 university teams from 111 countries that took part in the contest, as a result of more than 400 regional contests, only 124 teams advanced to the final stage, including the team of three students from YSU representing the Republic of Armenia. Participating in a competition of this scale is a notable achievement in itself, and taking 21st place reflects the team's consistent and constant efforts." 

Vahram Dumanyan mentioned that dedicated work is the key to success.

"This is a very difficult, complex path where being smart and skilled is necessary but not solely sufficient. Purposefulness and hard work play a crucial role here," emphasized V. Dumanyan.

He added that similar international competitions directly contribute to forming a high-ranking university and scientific mind in the entire republic. Therefore, it is important to actively involve universities and local programming companies in various international contests.

The YSU team was represented by postgraduate students from the Faculty of Informatics and Applied Mathematics Vahagn Altunyan, Levon Muradyan and Arsen Hambardzumyan. Levon Muradyan mentioned in our conversation that such contests are valuable not only for acquiring significant professional experience but also for finding a job in the future. 

“We were in the finals while still studying for our Master’s degrees and we were looking forward to this game. Of course, we wanted to win a medal, but we also consider our position in the contest of this scale a professional achievement," he said.

The coach of the team is Armen Andreasyan, Assistant of the Chair of Programming and Information Technologies at the Faculty of Informatics and Applied Mathematics. 

"Our team has surpassed many prominent universities, such as Stanford and Moscow State University. It's worth noting that there are universities that are specially preparing for this contest, and we managed to surpass them," stressed Armen Andreasyan.  

He emphasized that this achievement is a new milestone, a challenge for future generations to exceed the already achieved results.  

One of the peculiarities of the competition is the requirement for quick orientation and team thinking. 

"While understanding algorithms is undoubtedly crucial, what's even more vital is developing the team's tactics. Each member possesses unique skills, and maximizing their utilization is key to success. For instance, one participant excels in finding problem-solving ideas and algorithms, while another is good at coding, and so on," elaborated the team coach.

The primary competition of the final stage of the ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) took place on April 18, during which the YSU team successfully solved 7 out of 11 problems. To date, YSU teams have participated twice in the final stage of the ICPC, solving 4 problems in 2017 and 2 in 2021.

The final stage of the 48th ICPC is scheduled to take place from September 15 to 20 of this year in Astana, Kazakhstan. YSU will also participate in this final. 

During the contest, Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Egypt Hrachya Poladyan also arrived in Luxor. He met with the delegation of Armenia, as well as the leadership of the contest.