Gold medal plaque of the 51st ICPC Asia Regional Contest (Huawei Cup) [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

The contest concluded on 18 October. Three members of the SZTU ACM Training Team from the School of Artificial Intelligence — Cai Zekai, Lin Jianwei and Zhang Keyi — took home the gold, marking a landmark breakthrough for SZTU in this prestigious programming contest.

Venue of the 51st ICPC Asia Regional Contest (Xi’an) [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

Dubbed the “Olympiad of Computer Science”, the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) ranks among the world’s oldest and most renowned university programming competitions. This season brought together more than 60,000 contestants from 103 countries and regions and over 3,000 universities. After rigorous online preliminary contests, 402 teams representing 227 universities qualified for the Xi’an regional onsite contest. Gold medals were granted to merely 27 universities, and SZTU secured the 22nd spot among gold winners.

Gold Award Ceremony of the 51st ICPC Asia Regional Contest (Third from the right: Cai Zekai) [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

List of 27 gold-awarded universities of the 51st ICPC Asia Regional Contest (Xi’an), with SZTU ranked 22nd [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

The milestone came after five years of steady progress. SZTU’s ACM training team was established in 2021. It had previously earned bronze and silver honours at regional competitions, steadily closing the gap to gold. All three gold medallists are undergraduates admitted in 2024, majoring in Data Science and Big Data Technology, Internet of Things Engineering, and Computer Science and Technology respectively. They went through long-term intensive training and numerous mock contests to sharpen their algorithmic skills.

Three members of the SZTU ACM Training Team, from left: Zhang Keyi, Cai Zekai, Lin Jianwei [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

The competition posed huge challenges to the trio, who grappled with tough algorithmic problems and waited nervously for the final standings. Associate Professor Guo Yundi, the team’s head coach, noted that consistent practice and teamwork underpinned this breakthrough. He stressed that the capacity to analyse unfamiliar problems and make sound judgements remains highly valuable and hard to automate, even amid rapid advances in AI coding tools. Team members credited their progress to persistent practice and mutual support.

Head Coach Guo Yundi with the participating team members [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

The School of Artificial Intelligence supports the ACM team through its “Three Ones” Initiative. The programme encourages undergraduates to join a laboratory or tech association, take part in a disciplinary contest, and complete a real enterprise project. It bridges classroom learning and hands-on practice and provides sustained support for the ACM team and algorithm training across SZTU.

According to Fu Xianghua, Deputy Dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence, the ACM training team has won more than 1,100 awards of different types since its launch. It serves as a flagship example of the school’s innovation laboratories and a key platform for rolling out the “Three Ones” Initiative.

This gold honour belongs to the three contestants and every cohort of trainees who have contributed to the team over the past five years. The ACM training team will continue its recruitment to nurture more innovative computer science talents at SZTU.

SZTU ACM Training Team [Photo/School of Artificial Intelligence]

Drafted by Hallie（何雨静）/ School of Foreign Languages

Revised by Olivia（赖丽伟）/ International Cooperation and Exchanges Department

Edited by Olivia（赖丽伟）/ International Cooperation and Exchanges Depar