Jacksonville AL – Members of the Jacksonville State University Programming Team earned Gold and Bronze medals at the 2025–26 International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Southeast USA Division 2 Competition, held at the Georgia Tech contest site. Competing for the first time in this prestigious event, Jax State students demonstrated strong teamwork and analytical skills among peer institutions from across the Southeast region.
Under the guidance of Dr. Arup Ghosh, Associate Professor of Computer Science, ten JSU students participated across four teams. The JaxState1 team included Parinita Sedai, Karun Shrestha, and Oluwapamilerin Agbekorode; JaxState2 featured Utsav Shrestha, Anuska Pandey, and Aakriti Rai; JaxState3 included Denzel Stinson and Rajan Pandey; and JaxState4 was composed of Utsav Singh and Sabin Banjara.
Throughout the five-hour contest, teams worked to solve 13 algorithmic problems designed to test logic, efficiency, and collaboration. The JaxState4 team secured the Gold Medal, while the JaxState2 team earned the Bronze Medal—an exceptional outcome for JSU’s debut year in ICPC competition.
“I started the Jax State Programming Team in Summer 2025, and since then, I have been meeting with students every Saturday for two hours to practice competitive programming,” said Dr. Ghosh. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see our students earn awards at our very first ICPC participation.”
The team traveled to Atlanta early on November 8 and returned to campus later that evening after a full day of competition and networking with faculty and students from across the region. While Division 2 medalists do not advance to the next round, Division 1 winners may progress toward the ICPC World Finals.
During the closing ceremony, competition organizers also awarded a Gold Medal to Dr. Ghosh in recognition of his leadership as coach of all Jax State teams.
Dr. Ghosh expressed appreciation for the institutional and organizational support that contributed to the program’s success. “I would like to sincerely thank the Department of Mathematical, Computing, and Information Sciences; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences at JSU; the Human-Technology Interaction Research Lab; the IEEE Alabama Section; and the IEEE Jax State Student Branch for their continued support,” he said.
This accomplishment underscores the growing strength of JSU’s Department of Mathematical, Computing, and Information Sciences and highlights the university’s commitment to hands-on, team-based learning in computing and technology.
