Programming team will go to the Latin American championship

The event, held on September 2nd at the Gran Colombiano Polytechnic, featured three teams from the University of Cundinamarca, each composed of three students. One hundred and seven delegations from forty-two institutions participated in the tournament. The competition's objective was for students to tackle algorithmic problems, solving as many as possible in the shortest amount of time and in English.

UCundinamarca News spoke with Erick Sang, knowledge and learning manager of the Systems and Computer Engineering program, who has championed the training of these young people in the subject of programming, a discipline of the academic program that is currently in high demand by the productive sector.

UCundinamarca News: What positions did the students occupy?

Erick Sang: Their best achievement was securing thirty-third place with three solved exercises, which qualified them to participate in the Latin American Programming Tournament to be held on October 21st. That day, at the Politécnico Grancolombiano, they will compete against forty delegations. The second-place team finished seventy-second, and the third-place team eighty-ninth, out of one hundred and seven teams.

UCundinamarca News: What has the process been like to reach this important achievement?

Erick SangI have a group that I've been training for some time now, and the results are already showing. Last January, we won for the first time in a competition organized by... Colombian Collegiate Programming League. And so, little by little, we've started to appear in other competitions. This is how our level has steadily improved.

UCundinamarca News: How will the team prepare for the international competition?

Erick Sang: We're going to focus on some areas we need to strengthen. In addition, the other two teams that didn't qualify have committed to helping their colleagues with the training process.

UCundinamarca News: What skills do young people acquire by participating in these types of activities?

Erick Sang: They deepen their programming skills in languages like Java and Python. Likewise, every competition they participate in is recorded in the system; in this way, they build a resume that the industry uses to recruit top programmers. It also helps them develop soft skills such as camaraderie, teamwork, and leadership, among others. As a university, it enhances our prestige when competing against institutions like Los Andes, the National University, or Javeriana University, knowing we are on par with them. Finally, and importantly, they strengthen their English proficiency.

UCundinamarca News: With this programming teaching process, what message do you want to send to the students?

Erick Sang: I want you to understand that programming is fun, challenging, worth learning, and can be a career option that provides a very good income.

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