OLYMPIAD TIE
For the first time in the 26 year history of the South African Computer Olympiad, two participants tied for the first place. Gwylim Ashley of Knysna and Kosie Van Der Merwe of Brackenfell had identical scores and were both awarded gold trophies at a function attended by academics, educationalists and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
The Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad is an annual competition to identify, encourage and reward programming skills among high school learners. The competition attracted more than
33 000 entries for the First Round this year, and 2,770 for the Second Round. Fourteen learners were invited to take part in the Final Round which took place at the University of Cape Town on 26 and 27 September. The winners were announced at a gala function at Kelvin Grove in Cape Town this week.
Peter Waker, Manager of the Standard Bank Computer Olympiad said that the results were surprising. “Never in the 26 year history of the Olympiad have we had results that were this close. Not only did the top two participants both score 88% out of 600, but number three was only one point below them – and this in a competition where the average score is 56%.”
Gwylim Ashley, who attends Oakhill School in Knysna, and Kosie Van Der Merwe a learner at Brackenfell High, both received R30 000 each and their schools received R4 000 each. Gwylim and Kosie will have to share the Standard Bank Trophy, which is a floating trophy.
PYTHON
This year all the participants in the Olympiad used Python, the language used by Mark Shuttleworth to write the computer programme that made him a multi-billionaire. Mark wants to encourage other young South Africans to have the same opportunities he had and therefore donates R100000 prize money annually for Computer Olympiad finalists who use Python.
SILICON CAPE
Guest Speaker Hamilton Ratshefola, MD of Cornastone, urged the ICT industry, and especially young people entering the industry, to recognise the opportunities Africa offers South African companies.
Guest of Honour, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, supported this view and gave the audience a brief preview of “Silicon Cape” a venture to be launched by the Western Cape Government to attract and retain the cream of South African IT scientists for this country. Silicon Cape will officially be launched on 8 October.
WINNERS
Two of this year’s bronze medal winners were from the Western Cape and one from North-West Province.
Francois Conradie is a grade 12 learner and Head Boy at De Kuilen High School in Kuils River.
Sean Wentzel is a grade 10 learner from Westerford High in Rondebosch.
Schalk-Willem Krüger, who took part in his fourth Computer Olympiad this year, is from grade 12 at Ferdinand Postma High in Potchefstroom, North-West Province.
The silver trophy and R27 000 in prize money was carried off by Graham Manuell, a grade 12 learner at De La Salle Holy Cross College in Gauteng.
Brendon Wilson, Head of Risk and Finance Technology at Standard Bank the main sponsor of the Computer Olympiad, commented: “It is good to see such enthusiasm for nuts and bolts programming. What our economy needs for the foreseeable future is technical people; software engineers.”
Concluded Peter Waker: “We are looking forward to see how well these young people will do in the International Olympiad in Informatics in Canada next year.”
Photos available on request.
Complete list of all 14 Final Round participants available on request.
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
SA TEAM WIN BRONZE IN IT OLYMPICS
South African Maths and IT whiz kid, Francois Conradie, impressed the judges at the International Olympiad in Informatics with his computer programming skills and was awarded a bronze medal at the 21st IOI in Bulgaria.
Every year learners from more than 80 countries from all over the world meet for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). This year learners from 83 countries met at Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria to compete in the 21st IOI.
A team of four candidates from SA traveled to Plovdiv in Bulgaria where they joined 316 other contestants to solve the eight problems thrown at them by the judges.
Francois Conradie – De Kuilen High School, Kuils River, Western Cape
Schalk-Willem Krüger – Ferdinand Postma High School, Potchefstroom, North West Province
Graham Manuell – De La Salle Holy Cross College, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Kosie van der Merwe – Brackenfell High School, Western Cape
Team Leader was Peter Waker, Manager of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad, assisted by Max Rabkin, post graduate student at the University of Cape Town, and himself a previous Olympiad medal winner.
The four learners were selected from the 33 000 candidates who took part in the 2008 Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad and who received additional training at three Training Camps run by the South African Computer Olympiad Trust.
The participants spent two days - 5 hours per day - writing the computer programs that would solve the given problems. Francois Conradie took the lead among the South Africans by scoring 266 (out of 400) on the First Day. On the next competition day he added another 179 points; sufficient to earn him a bronze medal.
Peter Waker of the Computer Society of South Africa, and manager of the Standard Bank Computer Olympiad had the following comment: "The problems were extremely challenging this year, and some participants from other countries had to go home with a zero score. Obtaining a bronze under those circumstances is an excellent achievement.” Even the top participant had only 43% for the most difficult problem.
Francois is in grade 12 at De Kuilen High School in Kuils River this year. He has been a finalist in the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad for three years; 2006, 2007 and 2008. While this is the first time that he made it to the International Olympiad in Informatics, he is no stranger to International Olympiads. In 2007, 2008 and again in 2009 he represented South Africa at the International Maths Olympiad.
Francois is following in the footsteps of brother Jacques, who represented South Africa at the 2002 IOI in Korea and also won a bronze medal.
All four members of the South African squad could qualify again for inclusion in the 2010 South African team going to the IOI in Canada – providing they do well enough in the 2009 Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad.
While in Bulgaria, the team had plenty of opportunities to relax. There was a visit to the “Old City” of Plovdiv, go-kart racing and a visit to the Black Sea.
The outright winner of the International Olympiad in Informatics, was 14-year-old Henadzi Karatkevich, from Bellarus, who also won the IFIP medal for being the youngest medal winner.
Photos are available on request.
Please contact info@olympiad.org.za
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
COMPUTER OLYMPIAD FINALISTS
The Top 60 schools and students who participated in the Second Round of the Standard Bank/Computer Society of South Africa Computer Olympiad were announced in Cape Town today, together with the names of the learners who have been invited to take part in the Final Round.
A total of 33,119 students from 410 schools entered for the First Round of the Computer Olympiad in April. Of these 2,776 students from 183 schools were chosen by their schools to participate in the Second Round. The top 14 students from the Second Round will participate in the Final Round on 27 and 28 September at the University of Cape Town.
Peter Waker, Manager of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad, is delighted with the results. "Many schools are using the First Round of the Computer Olympiad as an aptitude test to see if learners should consider a career in IT. It is encouraging to see the number of First Round entries every year. It proves that there is an increasing interest in ICT as a career among learners."
A great attraction is the additional R100 000 in prize money made available by Mark Shuttleworth for participants using Python. Python is the Open Source programming language used by Mark to write the computer software that made him a billionaire. Unlike commercial programming languages, Python is available free of charge. (www.python.org)
Marco Gallotta, a leading member of the Scientific Committee which set the questions, added: "The questions in the Second Round were very challenging, and the average learner did not score very high. To our surprise a small group of learners succeeded in scoring close to full marks."
A large number of younger participants have made their way to the Final Round for 2009. Bennie Swart from Bellville High and Kieren Davies from the International School in Hout Bay are in grade 11. Charl du Plessis of Stellenberg High, Vaughan Newton of Bridgehouse and Sean Wentzel of Westerford are in grade 10, and Robert Spencer, also of Westerford, is only in grade 9. The last is the intellectual equivalent of playing in the first under 19 team while still 14 years old.
Asked about future trends, Peter Waker answered: "While it is encouraging that the number of First Round entries is so high, it is also a concern that the number of entries in the Second Round is dropping. This is a result of fewer and fewer schools offering Computer Programming courses - mostly as a result of a chronic shortage of teachers to offer the subject. Many schools are switching to a new subject "Computer Application Technology" (CAT) which teaches the use of common applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, etc. The eventual result of this will be that students will enter or avoid a tertiary programming course without having any idea what programming is, whether they like it or are suited to it. Some students who should have pursued a career in ICT will not do so; some who should have avoided ICT will waste a year on a course which does not interest them. Some-how an introduction to programming should be included in another subject or at least in the new subject "Computer Application Technology".
View the list of the 14 finalists here.
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
YOUNG COMPUTER WHIZZES GO TO BULGARIA
A South African Team to take part in the International Olympiad in Informatics in Bulgaria has been announced.
The team will compete with young people from 80 other countries for Gold, Silver and Bronze in computer programming.
After winning through a rigorous four-stage selection process which started in April 2008 with
23 000 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):
Francois Conradie – De Kuilen High School, Kuils River (Grade 12)
Schalk-Willem Krüger – Ferdinand Postma High School, Potchefstroom (Grade 12)
Graham Manuell – De La Salle Holy Cross College, Johannesburg (Grade 12)
Kosie van der Merwe – Brackenfell High School, Western Cape (Grade 12)
The reserves are:
Gwylim Ashley – Oakhill School, Knysna (Grade 12)
Michiel Baird – Elspark High School, Johannesburg (now 1st year at UCT)
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 reserves were part of the close on 23 000 participants in the First Round, 2 714 participants in the Second Round and 13 participants in the Third Round in 2008. The finalists from 2008 received further training during 2009 before the team of four was selected to go to the International Olympiad in Informatics.
The Team Leaders will be Peter Waker, Manager of the Olympiad and Max Rabkin, of the Committee that sets the Olympiad questions.
For the first time ever the IOI team consists solely of Grade 12 learners. This means that all this year’s participants could qualify for next year’s event.
Francois Conradie was the winner of the Standard Bank Trophy for the highest score and the Gold Medal in the 2008 Computer Olympiad, while he was a Grade 11 learner at De Kuilen High, Kuils River. He also won a R30 000 prize for being the highest scoring Python user last year.
He entered the Computer Olympiad for the challenge and for the development it offers.
He is a prefect and a member of his school’s 1st Hockey team. Among his other interests are the NFL, the Premier League and the NBA.
Schalk-Willem Krüger won Bronze Medals in the 2007 and 2008 Computer Olympiad – as well as a R10 000 prize as a Python user. He was a member of the team that took part in the 2008 International Olympiad in Informatics in Egypt. He is currently in Grade 12 at Ferdinand Postma High in Potchefstroom.
Schalk-Willem, who took part in the Olympiad to develop his programming skills, was the youngest finalist in 2006 and again in 2007.
Kosie van der Merwe won a Silver Medal in the 2008 Computer Olympiad while in Grade 11 at Brackenfell High School.
He has a string of Olympiad experiences in Maths having participated in the Mathematics Olympiad for 4 years, and in the International Maths Olympiad for 3 years.
Graham Manuell is a Grade 12 learner at De La Salle Holy Cross College. He was also a Computer Olympiad finalist in 2008.
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
SCHOOLS USE FREE APTITUDE TEST
Many schools register for the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad in order to use the First Round as a free aptitude test. This round does not require the use of computers, but will indicate which students have an aptitude for computer programming, and which should look for employment opportunities elsewhere.
“We already have more than 30 000 entries,” explains Computer Olympiad Manager Peter Waker. “The majority enters only for the First Round in order to use the aptitude test, and that is fine with us.”
FIRST ROUND
The First Round of the Olympiad is offered in two groups: Junior and Senior. For the Junior Division (grades 7 and 8) the main aim is to alert the learners to make the correct subject choices for a possible career in IT. For the Senior Division (grades 10, 11 and12) the aim is to encourage those with aptitude to plan for a tertiary course in IT.
“We would like to encourage young people with the necessary talent to make the right subject choices and consider a career in IT,” adds Waker. “At the same time it helps tertiary institutions if students without the necessary aptitude avoid registering for Computer Science. All too often students discover their lack of aptitude and/or interest when they have already enrolled for an IT course, and when it is too late to change courses.”
FURTHER ROUNDS
The Second Round requires participants to have the use of a computer and be familiar with a computer language – any computer language. The Second Round also takes place at participants own schools or nearby computer centres, but for the Third Round participants are brought together in Cape Town.
Four winners of the Third Round will be selected to represent South Africa at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Canada in 2010.
R137 000 PRIZE MONEY
In addition to the usual R37 000 prize money, IT billionaire Mark Shuttleworth has made an additional R100 000 prize money available for the Third Round for learners using the computer language Python in the Third Round. Python is an Open Source Language which may be used without payment. Mark Shuttleworth wrote the software that made him a billionaire using such software, and he would like a generation of young South African programmers to have the same opportunities he did.
REGISTER
The First Round of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad takes place on Thursday 23 April at registered schools. The organizers accept late registrations. To register go to www.olympiad.org.za or phone 021-448-7864
Registration is free
The Computer Olympiad is a project of the Computer Society of South Africa, sponsored by Standard Bank and supported by the University of Cape Town, Mark Shuttleworth and the Centre for High Performance Computing.
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
COMPUTER OLYMPIAD WARNS OF SKILLS SHORTAGE
When announcing the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad results for 2008 in Cape Town this week, Peter Waker, a Director of the Computer Society of South Africa, highlighted the opportunities created by a world-wide shortage of Informatics Scientists.
The Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad is an annual competition to identify, encourage and reward programming skills among high school learners. The competition attracted nearly 23,000 entries for the First Round this year, and 2,700 for the Second Round. Sixteen learners were invited to take part in the Final Round which took place at the University of Cape Town on 27 and 28 September. The winners were announced at a gala function at Kelvin Grove in Cape Town this week.
Guest Speaker Sandie Overtveld, Marketing Manager of Microsoft South Africa, explained how his company is always searching for new and creative programming talent, and that such talent is hard to find.
Peter Waker, a director of the Computer Society of South Africa, expanded by pointing out the opportunities for the Computer Olympiad participants. “While the world needs more Informatics experts, the education system is actually delivering fewer. This is a world-wide trend, but in South Africa the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Education are taking active steps to encourage interest in Science, Engineering and Technology. They have created a body to encourage and support competitions like the Computer Olympiad.
Brendon Wilson, from the sponsor Standard Bank, added: “Standard Bank encourages the development of talent in young South Africans and for this reason we support organisations like the Computer Olympiad.”
RESULTS
The Gold Medal, the Standard Bank Trophy and R41 000 was won by Francois Conradie, a grade 11 student at De Kuilen High School in Kuilsriver, Western Cape. This is the second time that Francois has reached the Computer Olympiad finals. In 2007 he won a R10 000 prize for being one of the top programmers using the computer language Python.
Silver Medals were awarded to Kosie van der Merwe, a grade 11 learner at Brackenfell High School in the Western Cape, and Robert Ketteringham a grade 12 learner at Rondebosch Boys’ High.
Michiel Baird of Elspark High School in Gauteng and Haroon Moolla of Rondebosch Boys’ High won Bronze. Also getting Bronze was the youngest medal winner in the competition - Schalk-Willem Krüger, in Grade 11 at Ferdinand Postma High School in North West Province. Schalk-Willem, who skipped a grade or two, participated in the Computer Olympiad for the third year in succession.
PYTHON PRIZES
IT multi-billionaire, Mark Shuttleworth, donated R100 000 in prize money for the top six participants who use the computer language Python in the Final Round of the competition. This was the language used by Mark to develop the software on which his first successful business was built. By donating these prizes he wants to offer other young South Africans some of the same experiences and opportunities he had.
The Python Prizes were awarded as follows:
R30 000: Francois Conradie, Grade 11 at De Kuilen High, Western Cape
R20 000: Robert Ketteringham, Grade 12 at Rondebosch Boys’ High, Western Cape
R20 000: Kosie van der Merwe, Grade 11 at Brackenfell High, Western Cape
R10 000: Schalk-Willem Krüger, Grade 11 at Ferdinand Postma, North West Province
R10 000: Michiel Baird, Grade 12 at Elspark High School, Gauteng
R10 000: Gwylim Ashley, Grade 11 at Oakhill School, Western Cape
Photos are available on request.
Complete list of all 16 Final Round participants available on request.
Please contact info@olympiad.org.za
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
ANOTHER MEDAL FOR SA
With South Africa suffering from a medal drought, the good news is that a South African did land a bronze; not in Beijing, but in Cairo, and not in sport, but in computer programming.
Every year students from about 80 countries from all over the world meet for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). This year 283 students from 73 countries met at the Mubarak City of Education, in the desert, 30km West of Cairo to compete in the 20th IOI.
A team of four South Africans joined competitors from Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and teams from 5 other continents to compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze. Team members were selected from the 34 000 participants in the 2007 South African Standard Bank Computer Olympiad. All were still at school when selected.
Mark Danoher, Pearson High (Port Elizabeth)
Robert Ketteringham, Rondebosch Boys’ High (Cape Town)
Schalk-Willem Krüger, Ferdinand Postma High (Potchefstroom)
Saadiq Moolla, Rondebosch Boys’ High (Cape Town)
The participants spend two days - 5 hours per day - writing the computer programmes that will solve the given problems. Mark Danoher took the lead among the South Africans by scoring 100 on the First Day. However the next competition day it was Saadiq Moolla's turn to score 100. Saadiq's combined score for the two days was sufficient to earn him a bronze medal.
Peter Waker of the Computer Society of South Africa, and manager of the Standard Bank Computer Olympiad had the following comment: "The problems were extremely challenging this year, and many participants had to go home with a zero score. Obtaining a bronze under those circumstances is an excellent achievement.”
Saadiq matriculated after being selected for the South African team, and is currently a medical student at the University of Cape Town. In his career choice he follows in the footsteps of his father, Dr Shabir Moolla, who is a general practitioner in Cape Town. Mark Danoher has also matriculated since being selected, and is studying Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.
Robert Ketteringham and Schalk-Willem Krüger are still at school, and will have an opportunity to qualify for IOI 2009, which will be held in Bulgaria.
It was not all work for the team. Before and after the competition days they had opportunities to see more of Egypt visiting the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza, cruise on the Nile and visit the Red Sea. Schalk-Willem accepted a “free” ride on a camel only to discover that the camel driver wanted a substantial amount to let him off the camel again. This problem was solved by one of the Egyptian guides – without a computer – but with loud voices and much waving of the arms.
The winner at the International Olympiad in Informatics this year was Huacheng Yu of China. Second was Panupong Pasupat from Thailand, while third was shared between Dong Zhou of China and Marcin Koscienicki of Poland.
There were very few female participants at the IOI, but the first top female participant, Danqi Chen (China), managed a very respectable gold medal.
Photos are available on request.
Please contact info@olympiad.org.za
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
Manager: SA Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
