Columbia International College

Some of the world’s brightest minds descended on the University of Waterloo for the 22nd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) from August 14-21, 2010. As part of our long-standing commitment to international education and developing young minds, Columbia was the competition’s gold level sponsor. Other sponsors included BlackBerry®, Google, IBM and Amazon.com.

The IOI which was held in Canada for the first time is one of the world’s foremost computer science competitions. The University of Waterloo and its Faculty of Mathematics played host to the prestigious weeklong event.

A Competition for the Best of the Best

Over 300 participants, of who only 9 were girls, individually competed to solve a set of informatics (computing science) problems during 2 competition days. On each day participants had to find solutions for four problems in a bid to maximize their score and clinch one of the competition’s top spots. Participants had five hours to complete each set of tasks and programmed algorithms for everything from Cluedo moves to calculating the shortest delivery route for a couriered package. Some of the problems had no solution so the challenge was to come up with the best possible algorithm.

For the second year in a row Gennady Korotkevich from Belarus took first place with a score of 778 out of 820. Rumen Hristov from Bulgaria and Adrian Jaskółka from Poland were the runners up with scores of 749 and 736 respectively.
In addition to solving highly complex computer problems those how took part in IOI 2010 also had a chance to relax. Participants toured the University of Waterloo and surrounding areas, went to Canada’s Wonderland and experienced Niagara Falls during competition week. They also participated in various cultural and recreational events where they interacted and built friendships with their peers.

Supporting International Brilliance

At Columbia International College we value academic excellence and nurture students’ talents and abilities. As the only educational institution (other than the University of Waterloo) to sponsor IOI 2010, we are extremely proud to have been part of a competition that celebrates and brings together some of the world’s brightest young minds.

Columbia’s Executive Director Mr. Clement Chan and the Principal Mr. Ron Rambarran attended the competitions closing ceremony on August 20. Columbia’s top Math students and those interested in studying Computers, Mathematics and Engineering were also in attendance. The ceremony saw the conferring of medals and a formal dinner. At the ceremony, Columbia students had the chance to rub shoulders with some of the technology industry’s top executives as well as faculty from the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics.

“It was very interesting,” said Grade 12 Student Oxana Borkovkina. “I was surprised that so many people for so many countries took part. I was sitting a table with people from Google and I even spoke with a Mathematics Professor from Waterloo. After speaking to him I am now thinking of applying to Waterloo’s Math program.”

Students who attended also drew inspiration from the competition.
“The competition has increased my interest in computing,” said Grade 12 student Mark Roberts after the dinner. “Seeing kids younger than me solving those problems made me think, if they can do it, why cant I?”

The IOI

The IOI is one of 5 international academic Olympiads for high school students. The first IOI was held in Bulgaria in 1989. The goals of the IOI are to "bring together, challenge, and give recognition to young students from around the world who are the most talented in informatics (computer science), and to foster friendship among these students from diverse cultures."

84 countries took part in IOI 2010. There was a registration fee of 200 Euros per participating country. All other expenses were covered by the donations of generous sponsors, like Columbia, to ensure that talented students participate on a level playing field. Columbia is extremely honoured to have been a part of IOI 2010.