TradingScreen launches programming competition for student programmers

NEW YORK, USA: TradingScreen Inc., The MIT Club of New York, The MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC, and NYCPromise are proud to announce the launch of "Dream it. Code it. Win it.," a competition for student programmers. Dream It. Code It Win It. will award more than $50,000 in committed scholarships and other prizes to students 18 years or older, and enrolled at accredited institutions.

Dream It. Code It Win It. is designed to promote creativity, diversity, and literacy in the computer science field among college students. Competition submissions will be judged by successful computer scientists, entrepreneurs and investors, including Mike Perlis, president and chief executive officer of Forbes Media.

"'Programming has nearly limitless potential to transform our world, helping us solve problems, create new opportunities, and explore new boundaries," said TradingScreen CEO Philippe Buhannic.

"Coders hold the key to this transformation, and it's critical for all of us to support young programmers to develop their skills, and help make this potential a reality. Dream It. Code It. Win It. helps recognize emerging talent, and shows others how exciting and creative coding can be," added Buhannic.

Although there are many variations on hack-a-thons, Dream it. Code it. Win it. was launched to celebrate and reward computer science as a creative tool, and not just as a coding exercise. This approach is meant to help encourage people of all backgrounds and genders to participate, particularly women, who make up just 23 per cent of STEM workers, versus 48 per cent of the total workforce, according to the National Math and Science Initiative.

"When we designed Dream It. Code It. Win It., the idea was to move beyond the traditional hack-a-thon format, giving contestants greater flexibility in the types of problems that they would solve using their own programming skills," said Cristina Dolan, a board member of the MIT Enterprise Forum and an officer of the MIT Club of New York.

"The orientation of this contest is towards greater creativity and diversity, making it more of a create-a-thon. This orientation is critical, to integrate new people, perspectives and skill sets that seem underrepresented in programming at the moment," added Dolan.

The selection of semi-finalists takes place over a period of three months through social media voting and a committee of judges. At the final, live event in New York City, the selected semi-finalists will present their creations before the judging panel.

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