Merton student part of gold medal winning team at Programming Contest (NWERC)

An Oxford team won a gold medal in the Northwestern European Regional Programming Contest (NWERC), part of the International Collegiate Programming Contest series.   

NWERC took place on Sunday 30 November, with 141 teams from 75 universities from 13 countries participating.  

The four winning students smiling, posed together
The winning team: Tsz Oi, Hanks, Nicholas and coach Alexa
The Oxford team:   

- Hanks Chong (Exeter, 1st year M&CS) 
- Tsz Oi Ip (Merton, 4th year M&CS)  
- Ko Kin Fung Nicholas (Merton, 1st year M&CS) 

solved 11 out of 12 problems in the total time of 919 minutes, and took 2nd place in the competition. That gave them a direct qualification for the 50th ICPC World Finals in 2026. They will also be invited to compete in the ICPC Europe Championship in February in Poland. 

'I am delighted that our team achieved a strong result at the ICPC Northwestern Europe Regional Contest. Beyond the contest itself, I also enjoyed the opportunity to compete and exchange ideas with programming enthusiasts from across Europe who share the same passion. This motivating result encourages us to prepare even more thoroughly as we look forward to aiming for success on the international stage at the World Finals.' - Ko Kin Fung Nicholas

Professor Standa Živný commented:

'I’m delighted with the result of our students in this prestigious competition, which requires excellent problem solving, coding, and teamwork skills.'