HU Team Wins Computer Science Competition

The Hampton University MMXI team was named the 2010 ARTSI Olympiad grand champions. The competition was a part of the second annual ARTSI Student Research Conference and the eighth annual Computer Science Olympiad held at Hampton University on March 25-27.

The HU team members are junior computer science majors Jessica Jones, Blaize Blackmon, Gheric Speiginer and Julian Strothers. The team has done very well in the competition over the past two years, and placed third in this year’s robotics competition.

This year’s Olympiad was different for the team members since they were competitors as well as host.

“We had the home field advantage,” stated Strothers. “We have a smaller computer science department than many of the schools we compete against. So, it was nice that we were able to bring in more than 150 people for the conference.”

The conference had information for students and faculty members. Dr. Monica Anderson, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Alabama, spoke with the group during the opening ceremony.

A number of students shared oral and poster presentations while faculty members attended sessions discussing curriculum and the ARTSI Alliance.

“The conference was a success,” stated Dr. Chutima Boonthum, HU assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and principal investigator of ARTSI Alliance at HU. “The department was very honored to host the conference and very proud of our students.”