January 3, 2020
K-State teams place in regional Association for Computing Machinery programming contest
![ACM Regional 2nd Place Team ACM Regional 2nd Place Team](http://www.k-state.edu/k-publisher/custom-images/2020/Jan/2020-Jan-02_1344_10-acm1-2.jpg)
Three teams from the Kansas State University chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery placed — earning second, third and fouth places — at the North Central North America Regionals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, or ICPC, hosted Nov. 9 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The teams competed for bragging rights as the region's top collegiate programmers.
K-State's team that finished second has been invited along with 54 other teams across the nation to the ICPC North American Championships, which will take place Feb. 19-23 at Georgia Institute of Technology. Members of the K-State team include Steven Zwahl, Jesse Molenda and Kyle Toom. They will compete for a chance to advance to the ICPC 2020 World Finals, which will take place in June in Moscow, Russia.
The K-State Association for Computing Machinery chapter is a registered departmental student organization and member of the international ACM professional organization for computer scientists. The chapter promotes and helps strengthen student's professional growth and unites the K-State computer science community. Throughout the year, chapter members participate in multiple programming competitions, where teams of three work together to solve real-world problems and build up skills in collaboration, creativity and innovation. The competitions also help increase the student's ability to work under pressure.
On Oct. 5, 2019, the Kansas State University ACM chapter hosted its programming contest for about 50 competitors. Hosted each semester, the purpose of this contest is to provide a competitive environment where students of all skill levels can practice their coding skills.