Binary Bears Take Second in Southeastern Programming Contest

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Mercer University's computer programming team, the Binary Bears, brought home the second-place trophy from this year's Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) programming competition held last weekend on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

The Binary Bears solved six problems in the set and held the top spot until the competition's final half-hour when they were passed by eventual winner Furman University.

“Our team of four students got off to a hot start and was the first team on the board in solving many of the problems,” said Dr. Andy Digh, associate professor of computer science and director of First-year Integrative Seminar at Mercer. “The competition is about problem-solving, teamwork and knowledge of different programming languages. The thrilling contest pits teams of four students against eight real-world mathematical problems, which they must solve in just three hours of time using only one computer.”

Mercer's top team was composed of senior Brady Brettin from Peachtree City, senior Andrew Buff from Sharpsburg, senior Tyler Burnham from Milledgeville and senior David Vorreiter from Fisherville, Kentucky.

A second team of Binary Bears solved three problems in the set. This group included junior Jake Foster from Barnesville, junior Brandon Hancock from Kathleen, junior Jonathan Kenton from Kathleen and sophomore Spencer Rasmuson from Newnan.

The CCSC contest is held annually among smaller schools without graduate programs in computer science.

Mercer holds seven CCSC titles and has had more success than any other institution in the Southeast over the last 20 years of this competition.

Complete contest results are available here, and a copy of this year's problem set is available here.

The Binary Bears will host a “Techie Talk” presentation, sponsored by the Computer Science Department in Mercer's College of Liberal Arts, Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. in Computer Science Building Room 100. Refreshments will be served.

Mercer will host a spring programming competition on Feb. 25. For more information, contact Dr. Digh at digh_ad@mercer.edu.