[Linux-aus] ACM programming competition Australian training camp

[Geoffrey D. Bennett]

Hi all,

Steven Hanley sent through this grant request during the committee
face-to-face meeting.  We liked the idea... please send your comments
in.

Thanks,
-- 
Geoffrey D. Bennett <g at linux.org.au>
Committee Member, Linux Australia Inc
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Proposal for assistance with an annual ACM International Collegiate
Programming Competition, Australian training camp

Bob Edwards asked if I thought LA would be interested in being involved with
this.

Each year the ACM International Collegiate Programming Competition is
held. This attracts the best and brightest computer science students in
universities around Australia to try to make it into a team that will compete
at the world event.

In order to improve the chances of the Australian team it has been proposed to
run a training camp at the Australian National University every year for the
winners of the various regional contests.

http://www.sppcontest.org/2004/Report2004.html is a report from the regional
contests around Australia and New Zealand last
year. http://cs.anu.edu.au/acm_contest/anuteamspage.html DCS has been involved
heavily in the past.

The training camp will consist of a few days of intensive programming training
on the Linux platform (though the language and other details are not
finalised). The winning teams of each regional contest will need to flown to
Canberra and stay there for a few days.

DCS is providing the venue and some staff time for this training camp, however
the costs each year of flying the teams in to the raining camp and
accomodating them up will likely be approximately AUD $10,000. The local ACM
people (Bob Edwards and Eric McCreath) are asking if LA would be interested in
assisting with funding some of this, maybe AUD $2000 to AUD $4000 each year.

I suggest that if LA is interested in the proposal they seriously think about
adding some riders to the funding, for example suggest a certain language or
class of problems that would actively encourage the Students involved in the
training camp to use interesting features of Linux and tools on the platform
and encourage their participation in Linux in the future (these are the
brightest students form Australian Computer Science often, possibly the future
Tridges and Martin Pool's for example)

Bob Edwards and Eric McCreath will both be able to work out what ways Linux
focus can be incorporated into the training camp in order to encourage the
above goals. 

The first training camp will be in early 2006.