Two A&M International Computer Students Win National Competition

A team of two computer programming students from Texas A&M International University captured second place in a national collegiate competition, beating top teams from major universities across the US including technological powerhouse Purdue University.

The A&M International students, Carol Gomez and Ying Zhao, won second place in a C++ Programming contest held in Evansville, Indiana during the 3rd Annual Collegiate Conference of the Association of Informational Technology Professionals (AITP). Gomez and Zhao finished ahead of approximately 30 other teams.

Dr. Stephen McNett, assistant to the dean of A&M International's College of Business Administration and chair of the Department of Information Systems, noted the AITP competition featured the best and the brightest students in the nation.

"The performance of our students demonstrates that Texas A&M International University currently has students who can compete in the academic arena with students from anywhere," said Dr. McNett.

Another team of A&M International students, Tyffany Sylva and Satish Kumar Tk, also competed in the national competition in Visual Basic programming.

Both A&M International teams were coached by Dr. Sridhar Nerur and Dr. Jim Chen. Drs. Nerur and Chen are assistant professors of Information Systems at A&M International. Dr. Nerur is also faculty advisor of the University's Student Systems Group (SSG), an organization which links the academic and business world through affiliations with professional information resource management associations.

The A&M International students who competed in the AITP Conference are members of the SSG.

Themed "Surfing Into the 21st Century," the four-day AITP Conference, also featured educational sessions presented by information technology industry leaders, a job fair, and exhibits.

For additional information on A&M International's participation in the AITP Competition, contact Dr. Nerur at 326 - 2536 or via email at nerur@tamiu.edu.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu