The Challenge 4 by Tuesday Afternoon Club

What is The Challenge?

Ladies and gentlemen, imagine an algorithmic online tournament like no other, with a theme focused on the semiconductor industry and its challenges. This cutting-edge competition will gather brilliant minds from across the country to tackle some of the most pressing issues in the semiconductor field. This tournament is not just about showcasing your skills; it's about finding real-world solutions that can drive the semiconductor industry forward, right here in Bulgaria.

Join us for an unforgettable journey where the future of technology is shaped, one algorithm at a time, within the vibrant support by Strypes!

OK…so let’s start!

Welcome to The Challenge 4, an online algorithmic competition initiated by the Tuesday Afternoon Club and its founding organization: MNKnowledge.

The event, powered by Strypes,  is an open challenge for students and IT professionals. Yet, welcome are also all younger people willing to demonstrate their knowledge in algorithms and technology.

Take your chance to show off your knowledge, skills and creativity, and win a tech face-to-face coaching session with a top IT professional from The Challenge team. There is also an opportunity to receive a job offer by the Strypes team.

Other cool stuff is in store for you, but we’re keeping it under wraps for the moment. Rest assured, you’ll love it.

The story behind: the first 3 editions of the event took place in 2021 and 2022 with the support of Chaos, Gameloft and Strypes and gained the interest of more than 100 algorithmic geeks.

The current edition comes under the partnership with Strypes, Future-proof Software and PARAi.

How to join?

If you want to join The Challenge 4, register now by filling the application form. After the registration you will receive an email with additional information and a link to the platform where the competition will take place. Both the competition and the subsequent coaching sessions will be in Bulgarian.

The problems to be solved*

This year we have designed 2 competitions:

• The TAC Challenge - includes 3 algorithmic problems of different complexity. They are all technological problems that require preliminary research, and may take a while to solve. Grading is based on the solution's efficiency, code quality, and overall approach. The ranking system we use allows us to accept solving the problems via C/C++.
• The Strypes Challenge - includes 3 algorithmic problems with different complexity. They are again technological problems. Grading will be done be our team. We will be accepting solving the problems via C/C++ and Python. Important: everyone who joins this challenge will have the chance to receive a job offer by the Strypes team!

Of course you can join both competitions and test yourself!

*Details about the tournament rules and information about the problems will be given shortly before the start of the competitions.

Calendar and important dates

• 13 November 2023 - the online registration for the competition is open.
• 27 November 2023, 6:30 pm - online event for all the enrollees including reveal of the algorithmic problems and technical instructions from The Challenge team. If you miss it, don't worry! You can still register the competition and send us your solutions.
• 27 November - 10 December 2023 - time for the participants to submit their solutions.  During this period registration will stay open for everyone who wants to join us on the run.
• 13 December 2023, 6:30 pm - award event /details to be announced later/.

Awards

The prize fund will be divided between school and university students and professionals as well and includes:

• Gift boxes
• Cool T-shirts and hats
• Comfy Poufs
• Some high-end +18 drinks
• Cool geeky gadgets including Raspberry set
• An opportunity to receive a job offer from Strypes!
• ...and more

The Challenge team

The team behind the competition includes leading IT academics and top professionals. They are eager to see and evaluate your creative solutions to the algorithmic problems and will be glad to meet all the winners for technical coaching sessions.

Professor Krassimir Manev, Ph.D

Prof. Manev is a Bulgarian mathematician and computer scientist at New Bulgarian University. He has years of experience at the Bulgarian National Olympic team in informatics. Between 2014 and 2017 he was President of the International Olympiad in Informatics.

Associate Professor Boyko Bantchev, Ph.D

Mr. Bantchev is a graduate from Sofia University and has been teaching there for many years. He is affiliated with the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His professional focus is on research, experimentation, computer programming, and teaching in the fields of programming languages, geometric computing, vector computer graphics, and programming.

Associate Professor Petar Armyanov, Ph.D

Mr. Armyanov holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in informatics from Sofia University (SU). He joined the faculty in 2016 to teach 12 subjects related to programming. He was also the assistant coach of the SU’s programming team. His interests include algorithms, programming languages, computer graphics, and high-performance computing. Additionally, Mr. Armyanov has more than 10 years of professional experience as a programmer.

Lyubomir Koev

Lyubomir Koev is a C++ developer at Broadcom, where he has worked for more than four years. His strengths are C++ and algorithms (his “weakness” is gaming). For the past six years, Mr Koev has been a teaching assistant at Sofia University for courses in C++, data structures and algorithms — you can find his published materials on his GitHub profile.

Аbout Tuesday Afternoon Club

Tuesday Afternoon Club is an initiative of MNKnowledge. It had its premiere in the first half of 2020, and has had three editions so far.

The Club is a series of online talks on algorithmic topics that brings together people with expertise and interests in the field. The individual sessions are hosted and led by reputed university lecturers and industry professionals.

The initiative aims to keep active and engage the Bulgarian algorithmic community.

MNKnowledge is an IT collective focused on sharing knowledge and consultancy services in the field of information technologies.

About Strypes

Being a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions with 400+ highly skilled developers, Strypes offers their clients solutions in the fields of: IT infrastructure management, consultancy, remote diagnostics, monitoring and predictive maintenance applications, application development, modernization & management, mobility and transportation and digital transformation.

Strypes  are a family of companies with decades of experience and 450+ completed projects in their portfolio. They have the know-how to develop and implement even the most ambitious smart solutions. From their operations, they have the right perspective to understand the issues of their clients and nurture the entire lifecycle of a product.

About PARAi

PARA is a technology NGO that connects robotics and automation companies, NGOs, research institutions, and industrial zones. The team showcases success stories and attracts the partnerships and capital necessary for the ecosystem to grow.

PARA supports its members by sharing the best solutions, business models, and marketing practices in robotics and automation.

About Future-proof Software

A team of passionate software engineers and architects, focused on building resilient software systems with an evolution strategy in mind so that they overcome the challenges of the technological future.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or you need some additional information, please contact the competition organizer MNKnowledge by e-mail at office@mnknowledge.com or by phone at +359 898 520 856.

Personal data will be processed only for the needs of the competition.

WINNERS

Professionals: Daniel Atanasov, Lyuben Georgiev, Latchezar Hristov

University students: Martin Kopchev, Elitsa Yotkova, Daniel Tropolinov

School students: Nikola Manolov, Aleksandar Georgiev, Ognyan Razsadov