Team UCSB-WA earns spot as sole UC representative after top-20 finish at North America Championship

The UC Santa Barbara Department of Computer Science celebrates the outstanding achievement of its students advancing to the World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), one of the most prestigious programming competitions in the world.

Om Mahesh ’28 (CCS Mathematics; CoE Computer Science), David Qiao ’26 (CoE Computer Science; L&S Mathematics), and Ezra Furtado-Tiwari ’28 (CCS Computing, Mathematics) represented UCSB at the North America Championship (NAC) on March 22 in Orlando, Florida. Competing against 52 teams, they placed 16th overall, earning recognition as the top-ranked University of California team and securing a place at the ICPC World Finals.

The ICPC challenges teams to solve complex algorithmic problems under strict time constraints, testing the depth and creativity of their problem-solving skills. As Professor Daniel Lokshtanov noted, advancing in this competition requires tackling some of the most difficult problems students encounter, multiple times over, within just a few hours.

As the team prepares for the World Finals, to be held November 15–29 in Dubai, U.A.E., they will represent UC Santa Barbara on the global stage among the top collegiate programmers in the world.
 

Team UCSB-WA (left to right): Coach Wesley Hung ’24 (CoE Computer Science), Ezra Furtado-Tiwari ’28 (CCS Computing, Mathematics), Om Mahesh ’28 (CCS Mathematics; CoE Computer Science), and David Qiao ’26 (CoE Computer Science; L&S Mathematics).