UMN Team Advances to ICPC World Finals in Dubai

Department of Computer Science and Engineering students — master’s student Jeffrey Hu and undergraduate computer science majors Anhao Li and Yehor Zharikhin — have qualified for the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals, which will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this November. Their qualification marks the first time in 10 years that a University of Minnesota team has advanced to the world finals.

The trio earned their spot after placing 9th at the national ICPC North American Championship competition in March, where they successfully solved eight problems within the contest’s five-hour limit. 

The ICPC, organized by the Association for Computing Machinery, is a global, multi-tiered programming competition where teams of three solve complex computational problems under time and memory constraints. The problems vary in type and difficulty. 

One problem the team solved involved determining how to cut through a sheet of paper containing thousands of rectangles into separate pieces without slicing through any of the rectangles. 

“You can’t just look at the paper and figure it out,” Zharikhin said. “You need to use a computer, and your program has to be fast and efficient to meet the constraints.”

Strategy plays a major role in the competition. 

“Towards the beginning of the contest, the problems we still need to solve might be easier, so we could split the problem set into thirds and work on them,” Hu said. A little later, more collaboration is needed. On a lot of problems, two of us would discuss the problem and one of us would code up a solution.”

As in years past, when the competition enters its final hour, the organizers freeze the scoreboard. This allows for a climactic and tension-filled finish. At the time of the freeze, the UMN team sat in 12th place.

“There’s a bit of tension before the final results are released because the scoreboard is frozen,” Hu said. “You can’t see the other team’s results.”

Hu, Li, and Zharikhin formed their team after earning the highest individual scores among University of Minnesota competitors in the ICPC North American Qualifiers. All three are members of the Competitive Programming Club on the Twin Cities campus, where students meet weekly to discuss algorithms, data structures, and strategies for solving complex problems.

Looking ahead to Dubai, the team is excited to both compete and connect with peers across the globe.

“During the World Final, there are all the best teams from different countries — so you can learn a lot,” Li said.

“I am most excited to spend a week, not just in Dubai, but in an environment with other teams and other strong, smart people,” Zharikhin added. 

The team also expressed gratitude to their club advisor, Teaching Professor Shana Watters, who helped with ICPC logistics and provided guidance and encouragement throughout the competition. 

“We put on a pretty good performance,” Hu said, reflecting on the national competition in March. “I was especially happy with that.”