Program Design Competition

The 2023 event, unfortunately, has been canceled.

Overview

The SDSU Program Design Competition allows high school students to interact with students from other high schools and industry mentors, with the goal of demonstrating and sharpening their problem-solving, design, and teamwork skills. The contest provides a platform for industry and academia to offer encouragement to the next generation of computing professionals, in the pursuit of excellence.

Supporting company

Daktronics

Program design problem

Students can participate with little or no programming experience. Students will design a software application based on logical thinking, problem solving skills, and high school math and science knowledge. The project should be designed and implemented by team members at their home/school and will be presented at SDSU. Teams will have 24 weeks to work on their design project.

Team composition

A representative of the sponsoring high school must serve as the team coach. The coach certifies the eligibility of the contestants and serves as official point-of-contact with the team prior to and during contest activities. A team may have only one coach. Students currently enrolled in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota high schools are eligible. Each team may consist of up to three contestants. Each contestant must be the same student who appears on the registration form.

Scoring

Judges will include faculty members of the SDSU Computer Science program, SDSU Computer Science students, and representatives from supporting companies.

For the design project, teams may choose their own software and must bring their software to present their project on competition day.

Projects will be evaluated based upon originality, creativity, completeness, and technical skills. See the Judges' Rubric.

Awards

1st place

First year scholarship* for each team member who enrolls and remains in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at SDSU (maximum $1000 per person)
Goodies for each team member
Plaque for the team coach

2nd place

First year scholarship* for each team member who enrolls and remains in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at SDSU (maximum $750 per person)
Goodies for each team member
Plaque for the team coach

3rd place

First year scholarship* for each team member who enrolls and remains in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at SDSU (maximum $500 per person)
Goodies for each team member
Plaque for the team coach

Each participating team will be recognized by the Dean of the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering and supporting companies. All teams will be showcased in local and regional publications.

*May be satisfied by a Jackrabbit Guarantee.