The 2024 ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship, hosted by the University of Engineering and Technology – Vietnam National University, took place successfully from February 29th to March 3rd, 2024. The contest not only affirmed the prestige and brand of UET in organizing international events but also contributed to marking Vietnam’s footprint in the field of information technology, nationally and specifically at the University of Engineering and Technology, on the international stage.

Bringing an international playground to Vietnam – UET asserts the role of a top university in the field of information technology.

The 2024 ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship was a gathering point for the most outstanding information technology students from leading universities in the Asia-Pacific region. With 17 times of experience organizing regional contests, Vietnam was honored to be trusted by Asian-Pacific countries to host the first-ever ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship at the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU.

The contest gathered 195 information technology students (65 teams) and 50 coaches from 40 prestigious universities in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The teams coming to Vietnam for the finals were selected from the top ranks in the ICPC regional qualifiers in Yokohama – Japan; Seoul – South Korea; Jakarta – Indonesia; and Hue – Vietnam.

This is the most long-standing, largest, and most prestigious programming contest for university students worldwide, and also an event to praise the talent and information technology skills of international students, on the largest scale in Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific region. Participating in this contest, students have the opportunity to develop their creativity, demonstrate teamwork skills, innovate in building software programs, and test their abilities under very high time pressure.

At the opening ceremony of the contest, Associate Professor Bui The Duy – Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, nostalgically recalled the beautiful memories of his student days when he participated in the contest and later became a coach and companion to the contest. “In addition to helping students improve their programming skills, the contest also develops self-learning and teamwork skills from other teams. The skills learned from ICPC will be very useful when working in businesses or conducting research at universities. Therefore, when I returned to VNU-UET as an Associate Professor, my colleagues and I were wholeheartedly committed to bringing the ICPC contest to Vietnam so that students could enjoy this exciting contest. In addition, these contests are a great opportunity for students to develop themselves and for countries to choose talent for developing the information technology industry in the future,” Associate Professor Bui The Duy shared.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui The Duy – Deputy Minister of Science and Technology spoke at the Opening Ceremony on March 1, 2024

The Deputy Minister also noted that many Vietnamese contestants have won regional contests and worked at multinational technology corporations worldwide, such as Google or Huawei. Many have also successfully started unicorn startups in Vietnam or become leaders of large technology companies.

Professor Chu Duc Trinh – Rector of the University of Engineering and Technology, Director of the OrganizationBoard, also said that the prestigious global programming contest ICPC Asia was once organized by the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU in 2006 – this was also the first time Vietnam hosted the regional contest. “The University of Engineering and Technology – VNU hosted the ICPC Asia Hanoi qualifiers 18 years ago, marking Vietnam’s footprint, and in 2024, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its establishment, the university is honored to host the first-ever ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship in the capital Hanoi. The university has made the utmost effort to ensure that the ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship is successfully organized, leaving the most beautiful mark with international friends.”

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh, Rector of the University of Technology, spoke at the Opening Ceremony on March 1, 2024

The contest was organized to international standards, with the best technology and engineering standards.

The University of Engineering and Technology – VNU has ensured full infrastructure and technical facilities, meeting all requirements for the contest according to global ICPC standards and striving for the best technology and engineering standards, creating the most impressive festival atmosphere with talented young people from around the world confidently demonstrating their algorithmic and programming abilities.

The contest was operated entirely on online scoring systems following international standards. The online monitoring system VNOJ was operated by the Vietnam Olympic Club, and Professor Rie Shigetomi Yamaguchi (Japan) was the Technical Director.

According to global ICPC standards, on the morning of March 2, 2024, the teams started working from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. During this time, the teams had to solve 13 algorithm problems to achieve the highest ranking and also the positions representing Asia-Pacific to participate in the 2024 ICPC World Finals in Kazakhstan.

At the contest, Professor Nguyen Thanh Thuy – Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Information and Processing and chairman of the Club of Falcuties-Departments – Schools – Institutes of ICT in Vietnam, expressed: “This is a great pride for Vietnam when hosting the ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship for the first time. We are very grateful to the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU, the ICPC Vietnam Advisory Committee, ICPC Asia-Pacific, and all the coaches of the teams for ensuring the smooth conduct of this contest. We are looking forward to the opportunity to host for the second time with an even wider range of teams from all over the world.”

Professor Nguyen Thanh Thuy – Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Information and Processing and chairman of the Club of Falcuties-Departments – Schools – Institutes of ICT in Vietnam, encourages students to nurture their passion for programming

Sharing from Ms. Veronika Soboleva, Director of Global Development at ICPC, also emphasizes the role of the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU – the hosting institute: “The 2024 ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship held for the first time in Vietnam was a success and is a pride of Vietnam in particular, as well as countries in the APAC region in general. I am looking forward to meeting you again at the World Finals of the contest scheduled for September in Kazakhstan.”

Ms. Veronika Soboleva, Director of Global Development at ICPC

Results of the contest were announced in real-time, with scores frozen one hour before the end to ensure the security of the final results until announced at the Awards Ceremony on the evening of March 2, 2024.

After five intense hours of contest, the Championship title belonged to the NewTrend team from Seoul National University with a total of 9 solved problems. Team Sudo (University of Engineering and Technology, VNU) won the silver medal, maintaining the highest ranking among the 12 Vietnamese teams participating.

The Champion is team NewTrend of Seoul National University

Team Sudo won the Silver Medal and was the highest-ranked team among the 12 Vietnamese teams participating in this contest

In his speech at the Awards Ceremony, Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc – Chairman of the Council of the University of Engineering and Technology, expressed pride and honor when the University of Engineering and Technology was the hosting institute for the2024 ICPC Asia-Pacific Championship. The most successful aspect of the contest was discovering talent and attracting and encouraging students from around the world to explore their creative abilities and passion for information technology. Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc also affirmed that the passion and determination of students and coaches are the driving force behind the success of the contest.

Prof. Nguyen Dinh Duc – Chairman of the Council of the University of Engineering and Technology, VNU spoke at the awards ceremony

UET – nurturing and developing technology enthusiasts

With the mission of “Nurturing talents,” the University of Engineering and Technology has had student teams contributing to Vietnam’s overall achievements in these international ICPC contests from the early years.

In April 2018, Team Unsigned – University of Engineering and Technology ranked 14th at the ICPC World Finals in Beijing, China. After two years of COVID-19, in 2022, three Vietnamese teams participated in the2020ICPC World Finalsin Dhaka, Bangladesh, making history with team EggCentroy from the University of Engineering and Technology, including Bui Hong Duc, Vu Hoang Kien, Nguyen Hai Binh, and coach Ho Dac Phuong winning the Bronze medal, ranking 12th at the global finals in 2022. This was the first time a representative from Vietnam won a prize at the ICPC World Finals and the first time ASEAN countries won a prize in the most prestigious programming contest globally.

Continuing the achievements of previous generations of students, the 2024 ICPC Asia Pacific Championship saw the University of Engineering and Technology have three teams participating. With the first-place finish at the ICPC Asia Hue City, team Sudo was one of the three teams from the University of Engineering and Technology to compete and win the silver medal at this contest.

“As students of the University of Engineering and Technology, we are extremely proud to participate in international arenas, a valuable experience for first-year students. We learn, exchange ideas with international students, and receive enthusiastic support and guidance from university professors during the preparation and testing. The learning environment of the University of Engineering and Technology has helped us have the motivation and opportunities to develop ourselves through international contests,” shared students Pham Quoc Hung and Hoang Ngoc Bao Khue, from teamSudo, about the wonderful benefits of studying at the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU.

The university’s leaders, faculty, and staff congratulated Pham Quoc Hung and Hoang Ngoc Bao Khue from teamSudo

Over the past 20 years, with contributions to ICPC contests, the University of Engineering and Technology – VNU has affirmed its educational philosophy of “Creativity and nurturing human values ​​of Technology,” always prioritizing the training and nurturing of young talents in information technology. The achievement of the UET team at the2024 ICPC Asia-Pacific Championshipis the clearest evidence of those efforts, demonstrating that the University of Engineering and Technology has, is, and will always be a reliable address for training, research, and recruitment of high-quality human resources in Vietnam for businesses and society in the fields of science, technology, and information technology.

Here, we present the panorama of the2024 ICPC Asia Pacific Championship.

Opening Day

Team, organizing committee, and sponsor check in before the opening ceremony

The Organization Board meets with state leaders and Global ICPC leaders

Before the opening ceremony, there was a reception for state leaders, the Organization Board, exchanges, and gifts to global ICPC leaders, ICPC Asia-Pacific, Regional ICPC of Asian-Pacific countries, the Judge Board, and the Technical Board.

State leaders and the Organization Board at the International reception include leaders of the global ICPC, ICPC Asia Pacific, ICPC Asia-Pacific countries, the Judge Board, and the Technical Board

Opening ceremony

Special welcoming performances came from students of the University of Engineering and Technology, VNU

Overview of the Opening Ceremony

The most interesting part of the Opening Ceremony is the introduction of the Teams. There are 12 teams from Japan, 14 teams from Korea, 12 teams from Taiwan, eight teams from Indonesia, five teams from Singapore, 2 Thai teams, and 12 Vietnamese teams, including three teams of the hosting institute, University of Engineering and Technology, VNU

Before the Opening Ceremony, Global Platinum Sponsor ICPC had a 30-minute Tech Talk about Huawei technology and the Huawei Challenge. Sharing a welcome speech at the Opening Ceremony

After the Opening Ceremony, ICPC Global Platinum Sponsor Jane Street gave a 30-minute introduction about Jane Street’s technology. Sharing a welcome speech at the Opening Ceremony

Machine test

At 2:00 p.m. on March 1, the teams were present at the Sports Complex to participate in the test

The sports complex before the contest

Contest day

Awards ceremony

The Champion is team NewTrend of Seoul National University

Team Sudo won the Silver Medal and was the highest-ranked team among the 12 Vietnamese teams participating in this contest

(UET-News)