Young Computer Whizzes go to Mexico
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A South African Team to take part in the International Olympiad in Mexico has been announced.
The team will compete with young people from 80 other countries for Gold, Silver and Bronze in computer programming.
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After winning through a rigorous four-stage selection process which started in April 2005 with 15 000 participants in the First Round of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad, four of the best young programmers have been selected. They are (in alphabetical order):
Keegan Carruthers-Smith from Pinelands High, Cape Town (now at the University of Cape Town)
Ralf Kistner from Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch (currently in Grade 12)
Max Rabkin from Cedar House School, Cape Town (now at the University of Cape Town)
Joshua Yudaken from King David School, Linksfield, Johannesburg (currently in Grade 12)
Reserves are:
Dario Fanucchi from Wordsworth High, Benoni (now at Wits University)
Dirk Oosthiuzen from Afrikaans Boys’ High, Pretoria (now at Pretoria University)
The Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad which serves as the selection vehicle for the team to take part in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) invites participation from all high schools in South Africa. The four team members and two reserves were part of the more than 15 000 participants in the First Round, 2 500 participants in the Second Round and 26 participants in the Third Round in 2005. The six finalists from 2005 received further training during 2006 before the team of four was selected to go to the International Olympiad in Informatics.
Team Leader will be Donald Cook, who has been accompanying teams since 1996. Deputy Team Leader is past Computer Olympiad and IOI participant and IOI coach, Graham Poulter – currently completing his MSc at the University of Cape Town.
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Keegan Carruthers-Smith was a learner at Pinelands High School in Cape Town when he won a Silver medal and R27 000 in prizes in the 2005 Computer Olympiad. He is now a student at the University of Cape Town.
Keegan is a regular Olympiad participant, having taken part in:
- The Accounting Olympiad
- The Science Olympiad
- The Old Mutual Maths Talent Search
- The UCT Maths Olympiad
Not surprisingly he was first at his school in:
- Ad maths
- Accounting
- Computer Studies
His other interests include Skate Boarding.
This is not the first time Keegan travels overseas to represent South Africa. He was also a member of the team which represented SA at the IOI in Poland in 2005.
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Ralf Kistner is a Grade 12 learner at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. He was the winner of the Standard Bank Trophy for Computer Programming in 2005 and the winner of the Gold Medal and R41 000 in prizes in the 2005 Computer Olympiad.
Ralf also took part in the Pan-African Maths Olympiad in 2004 and in the International Maths Olympiad in 2005.
He lists his hobbies as Climbing, Programming and Maths.
In 2007 he will study for a BSc majoring in Maths or Computer Science.
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Max Rabkin is now a student at the University of Cape Town, but he was a learner at Cedar House School in Cape Town when he won a Bronze Medal and R14 000 in prizes in the 2005 Computer Olympiad.
Max was also a regular competitor in the Computer Olympiad, the Maths Olympiad and the Science Olympiad and was the top matric student at his school. His interests are Creative Writing and the Wikipedia.
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Joshua Yudaken is a Grade 12 learner at King David High, Linksfield, Johannesburg. He won a Silver Medal and R27 000 in prizes at the 2005 Computer Olympiad.
Joshua is a regular in Maths Olympiads – ending up in the top 10, and was vice-captain of the provincial chess team
