TWO weeks ago Hudson Park hosted the Nelson Mandela University’s annual programming competition. Twelve IT pupils, three from Grade 10, six from Grade 11 and three from Grade 10 competed against a total of 200 participants – 80 university students as well as students from IT schools across the Eastern Cape. Stirling High School were hosted and was also represented with a group of 12 pupils.
To facilitate online real time connection and monitoring, a virtual network was established to connect to Nelson Mandela University’s network. This was made possible by Hudson’s very competent IT support team of **** Woods and Tony Roberson.
The objective was to solve as many mathematical problems possible using Delphi programming methods in three hours. All correct answers needed to be confirmed and submitted by working code.
A scoring system was established where incorrect answers would be penalised, preventing random submissions. As the evening progressed it became clear that it was a tough challenge as many submissions were not accepted.
The spirit of the participants was high in spite of the intense level of work attempted, at no time did anyone quit. It was nail-biting until the very last second.
