Problem Solving Fall 2003 Wednesday, 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm , Kramer Science Center 102A Herbert J. Bernstein ( ) Problem Solving ACM and Putnam Practice

This web page is http://www.bernstein-plus-sons.com/.dowling/Problem_Solving/Problem_Solving.html
Copyright © 2003 Herbert J. Bernstein. All rights reserved.

This is the syllabus for the practice sessions for the Fall 2003 ACM Programming Contest and Fall 2003 William Lowell Putnam Competition.

Coach:

• Name: Prof. Herbert J. Bernstein
• Office: KSC 121, Lab: KSC 020
• Phone: +1-631-244-3035
• Email:

Office Hours:

• by appointment; and
• Monday: 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm in KSC 020 at the Oakdale campus;
• Tuesday: 3:00 - 3:30 in KSC 020 or KSC 121 at the Oakdale campus
• Wednesday: 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm in KSC 020 at the Oakdale campus; and
• Thursday: 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm in KSC 020 or KSC 121 at the Oakdale campus;

Note that, in general, Dr. Bernstein will be at the Oakdale campus on Monday afternoons, Tuesday afternoon and evening, Wednesday afternoon and evening, and Thursday afternoons and evening. Meetings at the Brookhaven campus are by appointment only. If at all possible, please use email to schedule meetings in advance to avoid conflicts with other students and other obligations of the instructor.

For more information see http://www.bernstein-plus-sons.com/.dowling/HJB_Contact_Info.html.

Recommended Reading:

• Knuth, D, "The Art of Computer Programming", Vol 1-3, 2nd ed., Boxed set, Addison Wesley, 1998, 0-201-48541-9.
• Polya, G., "How to Solve It", Princeton Univ Pr; Reissue edition (November 1, 1971), 0691023565.

Required Supplies:

This is not a formal course, but if you hope to do well in either the ACM Programming Contest or the Putnam Competition you will need to work at the practices and assignments at least as hard as if it were a course, or even harder.

What these practice sessions are about

• The Mathematical Association of America's William Lowell Putnam Competition

  "is an annual contest for college students established in 1938 in memory of its namesake. Cash prizes for the top five teams in recent years ranged from $25,000 to $5,000. Recent cash prizes for the top five individuals have been $2,500 each. Below the individual winners for each year are listed in alphabetical order. The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize was established in 1992 to be 'awarded periodically to a woman whose performance on the Competition has been deemed particularly meritorious'. Recent winners of the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam prize have received $1,000. Over the years many of the winners of the Putnam competition have become distinguished mathematicians. A number of them have received the Fields Medal and several have won the Nobel Prize in Physics."

  In order to compete you must be an undergraduate student. No student may take the Putnam more than four times. The competition is usually held on the first Saturday in December (this year that would be 6 December 2003. Dowling students will take the exam at Dowling in two 3 hour sessions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. For the actual examination, each student works alone, but three students will be designated as the Dowling team. The list of students who will take the Putnam has to be submitted early in October.

  See the Dowling College Putnam Web Page for more information.

• The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest

  "provides college students with opportunities to interact with students from other universities and to sharpen and demonstrate their problem-solving, programming, and teamwork skills.  The contest provides a platform for ACM, industry, and academia to encourage and focus public attention on the next generation of computing professionals as they pursue excellence."

  In order to compete you must satisfy the following rules:

  • You must be a registered Dowling student in a degree program with at least a half-time load. "This rule is not to be construed as disqualifying co-op students, exchange students, or students serving internships. A student may compete for only one institution during a contest year".
  • No more than 5 years may have elapsed since you graduated high school. You may petition for an exemption if you have not completed the equivalent of 8 semesters of full-time post-secondary education prior to the regional contest.

  Students will be organized into teams of three. The composition of all our teams must be settled by early October. The sooner the settle on our team structure the better will be our chances of having all teams invited to the regional contest. This year the Greater New York regional contest will be held at the New York Institute of Technology in old Westbury on Sunday, 9 November 2003.

  See the Dowling College ACM Contest Web Page for more information.

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Dowling Computer Club

If you're interested in joining with your fellow students in developing and maintaining a web site, or pursuing your exploration of computer hardware or software, you might want to consider joining the Dowling Computer Club. Just follow the link for further details:

Dowling College Computer Club Web Site