For the third year in a row, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) hosted the only Google Hash Code hub in Qatar. The annual programming competition, open to teams around the world, begins with an optimization problem through a YouTube livestream. Teams have four hours to find a solution to the problem.

The CMU-Q hub had 20 participants competing in eight teams, including two teams from Qatar University (QU). The three top teams scored more than 20 million points, with a QU team ultimately edging out CMU-Q to take first in the hub.

“The Google Hash Code competition is a fun way to create a coding culture in Qatar. We were pleased to see students from QU join us, and that the teams in our hub continue to improve and find new ways to tackle the problems,” said Eduardo Feo Flushing, postdoctoral associate in computer science at CMU-Q and the organizer of the hub.

CMU-Q computer science students are encouraged to take part in extracurricular programming competitions, notes Giselle Reis, assistant teaching professor of computer science. “I think it’s an important part of a computer science education for students to apply their skills in a practical context. It’s a fun challenge, and it creates a sense of community among computer science students in Qatar.”