University of Windsor and St. Clair College students attended the Code/Design to Win competition.
University of Windsor and St. Clair College students gathered at the Alumni Auditorium to compete in a preliminary competition for a national programming and user interface design challenge.
The preliminary for the Code/Design to Win competition took place Friday with more than 150 students registered — the largest group of all 28 schools participating across Canada.
Code/Design to Win is sponsored by the School of Computer Science and the Office of Co-operative Education and Workplace Partnerships with Communitech, a public-private innovation hub based in the Waterloo Region.
“This is a huge event for both the University of Windsor and the School of Computer Science,” says Noah Campbell, a third-year computer science student and an organizer of the event. “It puts us on the map, and helps us be recognized as a leader in tech.”
The top 75 competitors across Canada selected in the next four to six weeks will win a weekend trip to Waterloo for the main competition in January 2019 for a chance to win $5,000.
“The event is also important to the students,” says Campbell. “They get great networking opportunities, not only amongst themselves but also with the sponsors who will be evaluating their work. This will help them get co-op internships and placements after graduation.”
Johanna Beneteau, internship co-ordinator in the UWindsor Office of Co-operative Education and Workplace Partnerships, says students participating in the competition will gain valuable industry experience.
“Our co-op employers are interested in seeing students participating in these types of events,” she says. “This is where students are able to showcase their initiative and apply their knowledge outside of the classroom.”
In additional to the weekend trip to Waterloo, event sponsors WEtech Alliance and the School of Computer Science pledged additional prizes, including Amazon gift cards and tickets to the WEtech Alliance Tech Show for any University of Windsor and St. Clair students participating in the preliminary competition.
—Darko Milenkovic