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Nanyang Polytechnic bags grand prize at code::XtremeApps 2008 Open Category

75 teams participated in the Open Category which tasked contestants to develop a Web 2.0 application strictly within a 24-hour timeframe, using programming tools IBM Project Zero and Adobe AIR; Children 12 years and below in the Junior Category created animations with 3D programming software Alice

Singapore, 12 August 2008 -- The Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC) today announced the top three winning teams from the Open Category and Junior Category of this year’s code::XtremeApps::, the computer programming competition it first started in 2007 to promote programming interest in Singapore. This year, a Junior Category was created for the first time for children 12 years and below to demonstrate that programming can be fun and exciting, and can be cultivated from a young age. NYP_Aries, a team from Nanyang Polytechnic, was crowned the grand prize winner in the Open Category, while the Raffles Girls’ Primary School team, Severus Snape, won the first prize in the Junior Category.

code::XtremeApps:: 2008 Open Category

The code::XtremeApps:: 2008 Open Category was held in partnership with the National Infocomm Competition (NIC) 2008, an annual nationwide multi-themed inter-school competition, spearheaded by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and supported by public-sector organisations including the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs), Singapore Science Centre and Singapore Computer Society. The NIC is Singapore’s largest year-long infocomm competition, which encompasses 12 challenges that allows students to hone their skills and showcase their talent in infocomm. The competition was one of the challenges under the Polytechnic/ITE circuit of the NIC.

A total of 75 teams, with up to three members per team, took part in the round-the-clock Open Category segment, held at the Singapore Management University (SMU) on July 19 this year. The teams were tasked to create a Web application, using frameworks from IBM Project Zero and Adobe AIR, based on the theme “Extreme Sports Entertainment” within 24 hours.

NYP_Aries, a team of Nanyang Polytechnic students Chen Jiahao, Loh Kah Wei and Pang Tze Chong, developed a community-driven Web 2.0 application called “Extreme Formula” to allow Formula 1 (F1) fans to share and track the latest F1 news, maps, events and images leading up to the much anticipated race in September 2008. The team’s winning creation not only incorporated the required platforms from both IBM Project Zero and Adobe AIR, the deployment of their application was also the most comprehensive and thorough among the finalists.

The second prize went to another team from Nanyang Polytechnic, NYP_Libra, which developed a social network named “ExtremeAvatars” to allow users to interact with each other and contribute content on extreme sports.

Can I Haz Code?, a team from SMU School of Information Systems, came in third with “RaceXperience”, an interactive site designed to allow for multiple views of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix by synchronising event tracking and webcast, circumventing the challenges posed by expensive tickets and limited seats.

The entries under the Open Category were judged by a panel of industry experts and practitioners appointed by the ITSC based on the following criteria:
- Innovation (30%): key idea or concept behind the application
- Value/Usefulness (25%): prospective social or commercial value that the application offers
- Usability and Aesthetics (20%): User-friendliness and overall design of the application interface
- Sophistication (15%): level of sophistication in terms of development effort or use of technology
- Extensibility (10%): whether the developed application can be expanded upon for new functionalities.

code::XtremeApps:: 2008 Junior Category

In the Junior Category, contestants were required to form a team of up to three members under the supervision of an adult. In light of the upcoming Youth Olympics Games that Singapore will host in 2010, they were tasked to create an Alice-generated animation with a runtime of no more than two minutes to illustrate the theme “Promoting Friendship through Sportsmanship and Fair Play - United in Sports while having Fun”.

Severus Snape from Raffles Girls’ Primary School came in top, comprising three 12 year-old students Teo Si-Yan, Louise Lee Zhi Wei and Wang Yin Zhao. They each won a set of Nintendo Wii gaming console for themselves.

The teams under the Junior Category attended training sessions on Alice during the school holidays in May this year. Entries were submitted by June 23 and followed by judging on June 27.

“Using Alice, we were able to grasp the basic programming concepts easily as we could write our codes and see the resulting animation immediately,” said Teo Si-Yan. “We used a game of volleyball to show the value of friendship and sportsmanship over winning a game.”

The first runner-up and second runner-up went to The TechKids and Lone Rangers respectively, comprising members ranging from eight to 12 years old.

To commemorate the passing of Alice’s late founder Randy Pausch and his inspiring last lecture named “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dream”, ITSC Chairman Robert Chew said, “The contestants demonstrated their perseverance in completing the task during the competition and are all winners in their own right. Dreams can come true if you truly believe. This is the human spirit we are celebrating above all.”

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About ITSC:
The Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC) was formed in 1990, under the purview of the Standards Council appointed by SPRING Singapore. It is an industry-led effort made up of volunteer members from the industry, and supported by SPRING Singapore and IDA Singapore. It is a neutral and open platform for interested industry and government parties to come together to agree on technical standards.

ITSC promotes and facilitates the national Infocomm standardisation programmes and the participation of Singapore in international Infocomm standardisation activities. ITSC fulfils its role by appointing the various technical committees and work groups to develop Singapore Standards where no international or industry standards exist and/or recommend the adoption of international standards as Singapore Standards. The participation in local and international standardisation efforts are also done through the appointed technical committees and working groups. There are at present some 350 technical experts and representatives from 180 organisations, engaging in ITSC's standardisation activities. For more information, please visit http://www.itsc.org.sg.

About the National Infocomm Competition
The National Infocomm Competition (NIC) is a multi-themed inter-school challenge created to uncover top infocomm talent in Singapore. Divided into three circuits - secondary schools, junior colleges and ITE/polytechnics – the competition will encompass challenges focused on areas such as business IT, digital media, mobile technology, security & networking and more. Supported by Ministry of Education, the NIC is organised by IDA and the following organisations including National Technological University, National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Management, Singapore Management University, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education, Information Technology Standards Committee, Singapore Computer Society and Science Centre Singapore. For more information, visit talent.singaporeinfocomm.sg.

IBM Project Zero
IBM Project Zero (http://www.projectzero.org) offers an environment for building applications based on popular online technologies, including a scripting runtime for Groovy and PHP, APIs for developing REST-style (Representational State Transfer) services and capabilities for mashups and rich Web interfaces. It is designed to enable faster, more productive development and deployment of Web applications and Web-based services, and to allow software developers to spend more time writing actual code instead of complex configuration files.

Adobe AIR
Adobe AIR furthers the Adobe technology platform for rich Internet applications (RIAs) and allows software developers and designers to rapidly create and deploy rich online content and applications that work across operating systems. Developers using Adobe AIR can build highly engaging, visually rich applications that combine the power of local system resources and data with the reach of the Web. More information about how Adobe AIR is being used to build compelling online applications can be found at http://www.adobe.com/go/airshowcase.

Alice
Alice (http://www.alice.org) is a freely available software tool developed by Carnegie Mellon University for young learners to grasp fundamental programming concepts through animations. By manipulating the objects in the virtual world of Alice, children can gain experience with the programming constructs typically taught in an introductory programming course, and develop logical thinking skill useful in problem solving.

Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was a professor in computer science, human computer interaction and design. He was also the Creator of Alice software project. He gave a famous and inspiring last lecture titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," at Carneige Mellon University on September 18, 2007. He was terminally ill and passed away on July 25, 2008.

Media Contacts:
Tony Tan
Manning Selvage & Lee Worldwide Communications
Tel: (65) 9048 6981
E-mail:

Submitted by TonyTan@MS&L, Manning Selvage & Lee on Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 5:56 PM
Category: Consumer Technology