SA computer fundis win big in Iran
SOUTH AFRICAN computer whizzes were victorious in the 29th instalment of the International Olympiad In Informatics, which took place from July 28 to August 4 in Tehran. Beating strong competition from Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia, South Africa also became the only African country to win.
The three UCT technology wizards won bronze medals at the event. David Broodryk, Yaseen Mowzer and Bronson Rudner made the country proud.
Broodryk described his experience of Iran’s capital city: “Tehran is a city of friendly and intellectually curious people. Our guide Marzieh was a data scientist analysing genes to help cure diseases. I went expecting a desert and found instead an oasis,” he said. The hardest part of the competition was the questions, according to Mowzer.
“The questions were tougher than the questions of previous years. It was a little disheartening to sit a five-hour contest and score what seemed like so few points, so slowly. However, after the contest, we realized we had performed well relative to the other contestants,” he said.
Rudner said he felt honoured to part take in the IOI. “Iran was a wonderful host and while the questions proved tougher this year, the team persevered and achieved remarkable results, and I am proud to have been awarded a bronze medal for South Africa,” he said. The manager of the SA Computer Olympiad, Michael Cameron said he acknowledged the outstanding voluntary leadership of UCT science undergraduate student, Robin Visser, for training the team.