Three Northwestern State University math students participated in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) South Central USA Regional Programming contest, placing fourth for teams from Louisiana and in the top 10 of teams competing. The contest was hosted by Louisiana State University.

Demon Coders are Alexandria Warner of Noble, Jessica Fletschinger of Slidell and Michaela Blackshear of Forney Texas.  Standing is Nicholas Richardson, team sponsor.

“The regional contest consisted of 68 teams from Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma competing at four different sites,” said Dr. Nicholas Richardson, assistant professor of math and team coach. “The team did very well since they were competing against mainly computer science students.”

“Math majors have to take two computer science courses where we learn to code in C++ and design programs that solve solutions to certain problems. So originally I don’t think any of us were exactly looking forward to learning how to code,” Blackshear said. “Learning how to code is not simple and I do like a good challenge. However, I like coding because you use it to solve problems, specific/crazy problems as well everyday problems. Solving problems is challenging, fun and overall a really rewarding experience. Plus, if I tell the computer how to do something, I can sit back and watch Netflix while the computer does all the work.”