Taiwan students bagged one gold and three silver medals to rank fifth at the 29th International Olympiad in Informatics in Tehran, the Ministry of Education announced Aug. 4.
Held July 28 to Aug. 4 in the Iranian capital, this year’s IOI saw over 300 high school students from more than 80 countries and territories compete in contests of computer programming and problem-solving.
The Taiwan team was led by National Taiwan Normal University Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering professor Greg Lee. According to the MOE, Lee was also recently elected as the next IOI president, and will serve a three-year stint as head of the olympiad beginning this August.
This year’s national team consisted of Cheng Chung-ya from the Kaohsiung Municipal Senior High School in southern Taiwan and Su Po-hsuan from the National Experimental High School at Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan, as well as Wang Yen-jen from the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei City and Wu Sheng-fu from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School.
Cheng was the top performer of the group, earning Taiwan’s only gold medal and placing 21st worldwide in the olympiad’s individual rankings. According to the MOE, Cheng said he discovered his knack for competitive scholastic challenges when he won a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in his first year of high school.
The annual programming competition was first held in Bulgaria in 1989. Since debuting at the event in 1994, Taiwan competitors have won a total of 19 golds, 46 silvers and 24 bronzes at the event for burgeoning programmers, underscoring the prowess of local students on the international stage, the ministry said.
In 2014, Taipei City hosted the 26th edition of the IOI, attracting around 1,000 high school students and their coaches from more than 80 countries and territories. It was the first time for Taiwan to host the event.
In an effort to encourage local students to participate in international olympiads, the MOE offers rewards of NT$200,000 (US$6,600), NT$100,000 and NT$50,000 for gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. According to the ministry, participating in the competitions helps students develop international perspectives by giving them the opportunity to engage with peers around the world. (KWS-E)
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