Russian Talents Shine in IT Contests
Moscow State University student Pyotr Mitrichev, 21, took the gold this month at a major programming competition in the United States. His prize was the latest in a string of victories by Russian programmers.
May 12, 2006
Luck shined on Mitrichev in Las Vegas, where he beat 47 other contenders at the Top Coder annual competition. The finalists earned their spots by beating thousands of computer gurus in timed programming contests held online around the globe.
Last month, 10 Russian university teams battled 70 other finalists from all over the world and won five of the 12 medals at the global programming championship, organized by U.S.-based Association for Computing Machinery. The team from Russia's Saratov State University took the world championship title at the competition in San Antonio.
The country's strong tradition in science education remains one of the main reasons behind the shining performance of Russia's technical talents. Even though the country's educational system has had its fair share of problems, "it remains strong ... and the kids show a real interest [in programming]," said Yevgeny Pankratyev, competitive programming coach at Moscow State University.
Although the country's IT sector remains relatively small by global standards, recent victories in international programming competitions showcase the software industry's future potential, said Valentin Makarov, president of the Russoft software developers association.
Russoft estimated that the country's software export industry grew from $730 million in 2004 to $970 million in 2005, which currently only accounts for less than 1 percent of the world's IT outsourcing market.
Makarov predicted the industry would reach $1.3 billion by the end of the year.
In his annual state-of-the-nation address Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia must become a "large exporter of intellectual services" and focus on innovation to become a competitive global economic player.
To win this month's programming competition, Mitrichev "successfully submitted the only solution to the hardest problem to win the closely contested championship round" and took the $20,000 grand prize, Top Coder organizers said in a statement.
The two-day competition, which included timed algorithmic problem solving using programming languages such as Java, C# and C++, ended on May 5. Poland's Tomasz Czajka and Japan's Natori Shin took the silver and bronze, respectively.
Russia had eight programmers in the finals, surpassed only by Poland, which was represented by 11 finalists in Las Vegas.
"We had very good succession. Past winners [of similar competitions] train the newcomers," said Mitrichev, who returned to Moscow on Sunday.
Mitrichev - also the winner of another programming competition in March in Belarus - is an assistant math teacher at Moscow's School No. 57.
Last month, 10 Russian university teams battled 70 other finalists from all over the world and won five of the 12 medals at the global programming championship, organized by U.S.-based Association for Computing Machinery. The team from Russia's Saratov State University took the world championship title at the competition in San Antonio.
The country's strong tradition in science education remains one of the main reasons behind the shining performance of Russia's technical talents. Even though the country's educational system has had its fair share of problems, "it remains strong ... and the kids show a real interest [in programming]," said Yevgeny Pankratyev, competitive programming coach at Moscow State University.
Although the country's IT sector remains relatively small by global standards, recent victories in international programming competitions showcase the software industry's future potential, said Valentin Makarov, president of the Russoft software developers association.
Russoft estimated that the country's software export industry grew from $730 million in 2004 to $970 million in 2005, which currently only accounts for less than 1 percent of the world's IT outsourcing market.
Makarov predicted the industry would reach $1.3 billion by the end of the year.
In his annual state-of-the-nation address Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia must become a "large exporter of intellectual services" and focus on innovation to become a competitive global economic player.
To win this month's programming competition, Mitrichev "successfully submitted the only solution to the hardest problem to win the closely contested championship round" and took the $20,000 grand prize, Top Coder organizers said in a statement.
The two-day competition, which included timed algorithmic problem solving using programming languages such as Java, C# and C++, ended on May 5. Poland's Tomasz Czajka and Japan's Natori Shin took the silver and bronze, respectively.
Russia had eight programmers in the finals, surpassed only by Poland, which was represented by 11 finalists in Las Vegas.
"We had very good succession. Past winners [of similar competitions] train the newcomers," said Mitrichev, who returned to Moscow on Sunday.
Mitrichev - also the winner of another programming competition in March in Belarus - is an assistant math teacher at Moscow's School No. 57.