Monmouth University’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE) hosted its annual High School Programming Competition on Feb. 23 at the university’s West Long Branch campus and a team of students from Freehold High School, Freehold Borough, excelled.
According to a press release, 72 high school students from area schools joined their teachers and Monmouth University computer science, software engineering and information systems students for the day-long event.
Partnering with CSSE for the event this year were IBM, Commvault and Sparta Systems. Monmouth alumni Andrew Parise, who works for Sparta Systems, gave the keynote address and John Walicki, IBM Developer Advocate, spoke about the IBM Watson Internet of Things ecosystem.
The Internet of Things is a network of physical devices, with embedded electronics, software or sensors which allow these objects to connect and exchange data via a network. according to the press release.
Recent studies have estimated that more than 30 billion objects with a global market value of $7.1 trillion will make up the Internet of Things by 2020.
It is important for the CSSE department and the university to continue to provide outreach opportunities to enhance the education of students in the region, said Jamie Kretsch, the CSSE department chair.
The High School Programming Competition is “a fun, challenging, team-focused day and the CSSE department hopes it will inspire high school students to continue their computer science studies beyond high school,” Kretsch said.
The team Freehold1, consisting of students Max Breslauer-Friedman, Adam Goldstein and Noah Lee, won the competition. Industry sponsors IBM, Commvault and Sparta Systems provided prizes for the winning students and the Macaluso Group donated computing-related books for all teams.
