CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – A team of Winthrop University computer programming students took first place recently in an algorithmic programming competition against other college teams at the Charleston, South Carolina, competition site.
The team ranked fourth overall in the Southeast in Division II of 26 teams at the 2025 International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) and ranked ninth in the South Division of 91 teams. The competitions involve three students who collaborate together to solve problems and learn to perform under pressure.
The team of junior Joshua Shrewsbury (computer science, minor in mathematics), senior Joshua Gilstorf (computer science, minor in digital information) and junior Harrison Neville (computer science, minor in mathematics) turned heads because they had the second fastest first-solution in the region, said advisor Paul Wiegand, an assistant professor of computer science. The students, who solved their first problem in seven minutes, were able to solve eight of 13 problems, right behind the overall conference team winner who solved nine problems.
“Programming competitions are not easy,” said Wiegand, who worked with the students during the fall semester along with Richard Ilson, a senior instructor who took the students to the competition. “It involves five hours of rigorous problem solving.”
A second team of sophomore Kevin Yanni (cybersecurity, minor in computer science and game development) and senior Marc-Alexandre Martin-Lauzer (computer science, minor in mathematics and French) made their first appearance at the competition and were down a member who was sick.
The ICPC is an algorithmic programming contest for college students. Teams of three, representing their university, work to solve the most real-world problems, fostering collaboration, creativity, innovation and the ability to perform under pressure. Through training and competition, teams challenge each other to raise the bar on the possible. Quite simply, it is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world.
The computer science team success comes at a time when the department is adding new programs, including a new Artificial Intelligence major, an Applied Software Engineering major and a Game Design major.
For more information, contact Wiegand at wiegandrp@winthrop.edu or Ilson at ilsonr@winthrop.edu.
