Schools

Arlington IT Company Hosts Annual Programming Contest

Innovative Defense Technologies gives cash awards to science programs at McLean and Alexandria-area schools.

Teams from three area high schools took home cash awards for their respective computer science departments earlier this month after successfully competing in an Arlington programming contest.

Innovative Defense Technologies, a business at 4401 Wilson Blvd. that specializes in software testing for the Defense Department, held the final round of its annual high school and collegiate programming contest at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Ballston.

The competition focused on innovative methods of implementing automated software testing techniques, according to a news release.

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Several local high school and university teams participated.

McLean High School placed first in its division, thanks to the efforts of students Akshay Karthik, Peter Ott and Drew Sorrels.

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IDT recognized McLean’s coach, Jean Wright, for her 31 years of teaching computer science at the high school level, the news release states.

Teams from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the Alexandria area placed second and third.

The second-place team consisted of Billy Moses, Matthew Cramer and Abi Gopal. The third-place team had one member: Ronnie Ghose.

Virginia Tech students Ian Davies, Karthik Kumar and Eeshan Shah won first place in the collegiate division.

James Rountree and Gregory Smith won second place for the College of William and Mary.

“The purpose of this type of event is to promote student interest in Automated Software Testing through problem solving, teamwork, and innovative technology,” Thom Garrett, the company's contest chairman, said in a statement.

The McLean team won $1,500 for its school's Computer Science Department, plus a Kindle Fire HD and T-shirt for the students.

The second-place team won $750 for its school, plus an iPod Nano and T-shirt for the students; the third-place team won $ 500 for its school and a Kindle Paperwhite and T-shirt for the students.

The college teams won $1,800 and $1,200, respectively.

The annual programming contest is open to teams from high schools and colleges in Virginia, Maryland and Washington. 

For information about future contests, visit contest.idtus.com.


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