Update on the Contest

Dear challengers,

In 2015, we set out with the goal of giving a little back to the community that enriched our interests in computer science. We sought not only to rekindle an old tradition of our local club, but to share the experience with anyone interested in a good puzzle. Thanks to your continued participation and support over these four years, we were driven to keep challenging you to the next level. We are gracious that this journey has brought us closer to some of the most brilliant minds among the next generation of problem solvers.

Unfortunately, due to developing barriers in our full ability to commit to the cause, it is time for the Woburn Challenge to scale down. Namely, periodic online rounds throughout the year will be closed until further notice. In the meantime, we are contemplating a shift in format to an annual event, reminiscent of the original iteration of the contest from 1995–2003. You can continue to access past material via our website woburnchallenge.org/past-contests as well as the PEG Judge. We would like to thank you again for your interest and engagement over the years and ask you to please stay tuned for news about potential future rounds.

To four fun years of challenges and beyond!

Sincerely,
The Woburn Challenge Team

2019 Finals Results

The Woburn Challenge 2019 on-site finals was our most exciting contest yet! We witnessed 18 teams from 13 schools battle it out for the coveted title of Woburn Challenge Champion. In the end, the top team from University of Toronto Schools took home a senior division victory, thanks to making the most headway on both of the difficult final two problems. Meanwhile, the junior division saw several teams on the cusp of perfect scores, but with only William Lyon Mackenzie C.I.'s team finally able to achieve it and secure their victory!

The senior division prizewinners are:

1. William Li, David Tang, and Andrew Marin of University of Toronto Schools ($250)

2. Keenan Gugeler, Ethan White, and Tony Xia of Waterloo Collegiate Institute ($200)

3. Brian Chau of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($150)

The junior division prizewinners are:

1. Evan Zhang, Yi Deng, and Jeffrey Gao of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($150)

2. Robert Chung of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($100)

3. Lily Cao, Rayton Lin, and Andrew Xue of Earl Haig Secondary School ($50)

Congratulations! For all online-round prizewinners who could not join us today, we will be getting in contact with your teachers shortly about sending your prizes by mail. We truly hope that you enjoyed tackling all the problems which we have prepared with love. Thanks to all the helping hands that made this event possible, as well as contestants and teachers alike, who stayed with us through to the end of the season.

We hope you enjoyed the last round of the season and look forward to bringing you many more exciting challenges in the future!

See the full contest results including problems, solutions, and test data.

Round 4 Problems, Solutions, and Results are Available!

Thank you for joining us in our fourth and final online round, new and returning participants alike. It has been a blast, and we are looking forward to the finals, which is just around the corner.

This round 4 was a real curveball, with no official perfect scores in any of the three divisions. The final subtask of the senior division went unsolved by the end of the three hours, with Brian Chau of Woburn clinching the top spot by a lead of over 16 points out of 100.

The senior division prizewinners for this round are: 

1. Brian Chau of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($100)

2. Andrew Qi Tang of Erindale Secondary School ($50)

3. Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School ($25)

4. Yi Deng of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($25)

5. William Li of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

6. Evan Zhang of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($25)

7. Ava Pun of Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute ($25)

8. Alex Tianyi Xu of White Oaks Secondary School ($25)

The intermediate division prizewinners for this round are:

1. Aaron Tang of Churchill Heights Public School ($50)

2. Michael Huang of Bell High School ($25)

3. Jeffrey Gao of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($25)

4. Jerry Hu of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

Finally, we would like to applaud a job well done to the top junior division finishers: Lily Cao of Earl Haig Secondary School, Allen Tao of Colonel By Secondary School, and Alissa Palkina of Richview Collegiate Institute.

Congratulations! These prizes will be distributed as Visa gift cards during the on-site finals in May to which all of the above winners are invited (more details to come later). Do not fret if you may not be able to make the final round in person – we will mail your prize to you afterwards.

Problems and solutions for this round are now posted at: woburnchallenge.com/past-contests. Once again, we thank all of you who participated, as well as teachers for sharing this with your students.

The date and location of the Woburn Challenge on-site finals will be announced within the next few weeks, when the invitations will also be distributed. Be on the lookout!

See the full contest results.

March Contest

Hello Challengers!

Our 4th and final online round of the 2018-19 season will be held on Friday, March 22nd, 2019 from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET. If you participated in previous seasons, you must still complete this year's registration form using the link on the registration page but you can continue using the same PEG Judge username.) If you participated in online rounds 1, 2, or 3, please use the same PEG Judge username and there's no need to register again.

If you are new to the Woburn Challenge, you can visit http://wcipeg.com/contests to check out some of the past contests and familiarize yourself with submitting solutions to our online grading environment (the PEG Judge). It is also a good idea to try and solve some of the problems on the WCIPEG website in order to sharpen your problem-solving prowess!

We will be sending out invitations to the on-site finals shortly after.

Don't miss it!

Round 3 Problems, Solutions, and Results are Available!

Baring a few test data hiccups, the Woburn Challenge online round 3 was a refreshing start to the new year. We are proud to have so many new rising stars tackling the challenges we work so hard to craft.

After a nail-biting defeat in round 2, returning finals champion Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School has made a comeback over Brian Chau of Woburn. Zixiang was the only competitor to solve the final senior problem, and did so only half-way into the contest! Meanwhile, Michael Huang of Bell High School topped out the intermediate division in 40 minutes flat. Keep up the great work!

The senior division prizewinners for this round are: 

1. Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School ($100)

2. Brian Chau of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($50)

3. William Li of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

4. Andrew Dong of Centennial College Vocational Institute ($25)

5. Ava Pun of Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute ($25)

6. Anish Mahto of Turner Fenton Secondary School ($25)

7. Andrew Qi Tang of Erindale Secondary School ($25)

8. William Fung of Richmond Hill High School ($25)

The intermediate division prizewinners for this round are:

1. Michael Huang of Bell High School ($25)

2. Aaron Tang of Churchill Heights Public School ($25)

3. Steven Ung of Stephen Lewis Secondary School ($25)

4. Jerry Zhu of Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School ($25)

Finally, we would like to applaud a job well done to the top junior division finishers: Edwin Chen and Zeyu Chen of Colonel By Secondary School, Michael Sheinman of Grimsby Secondary School, and Eric Wang of Glenforest Secondary School.

Congratulations! These prizes will be distributed as Visa gift cards during the on-site finals in May to which all of the above winners are invited (more details to come later). Do not fret if you may not be able to make the final round in person – we will mail your prize to you afterwards.

Remember that we will have many prizes in the remaining rounds of the year, so keep on practicing! Problems and solutions for this round are now posted at: woburnchallenge.com/past-contests. Once again, we thank all of you who participated, as well as teachers for sharing this with your students. 

See the full contest results.

February Contest

Hello Challengers!

Our 3rd online round of the 2018-19 season will be held on Friday, February 1st, 2019 from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET. If you participated in previous seasons, you must still complete this year's registration form using the link on the registration page but you can continue using the same PEG Judge username.) If you participated in online rounds 1 or 2, please use the same PEG Judge username and there's no need to register again.

If you are new to the Woburn Challenge, you can visit http://wcipeg.com/contests to check out some of the past contests and familiarize yourself with submitting solutions to our online grading environment (the PEG Judge). It is also a good idea to try and solve some of the problems on the WCIPEG website in order to sharpen your problem-solving prowess!

Don't miss it!

Round 2 Problems, Solutions, and Results are Available!

Round 2 ran as smoothly as Ethan Hunt himself! We were proud of the problem set, turnout, as well as the increased stability of the judge (all thanks to our admin Brian!). Now, here’s a Woburn Challenge fun fact for all of you out there: for the first time in over two years of online contests, there were no perfect scores in the senior division.

Top competitors were perplexed past the first subtask of problem S4’s mind-numbing traffic scenarios… until, crazily enough, with two minutes to spare, Brian Chau of Woburn managed to secure the subtask two for a dazzling finish. Returning champion Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School has finally been dethroned! Will there be a comeback in rounds 3 and 4? Tune in in the new year to find out. Still, a nail-biting performance for all – keep up the great work!

The senior division prizewinners for this round are: 

1. Brian Chau of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($100)

2. Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School ($50)

3. Henning Jiang of Vincent Massey Secondary School ($25)

4. David Tang of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

5. Royi Luo of Richmond Hill High School ($25)

6. Dao Bo Yang of Iroquois Ridge High School ($25)

7. William Li of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

8. Sharujan Sreekaran of Glenforest Secondary School ($25)

The intermediate division prizewinners for this round are:

1. Evan Zhang of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($50)

2. Jason Xiong of University of Toronto Schools ($25)

3. Michael Huang of Bell High School ($25)

4. Yi Deng of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($25)

Finally, we would like to applaud a job well done to the top Junior division finishers: Moses Xu of Appleby College, Eric Wang and Leo Tong of Glenforest Secondary School, and Allen Tao of Colonel By Secondary School.

Congratulations! These prizes will be distributed as Visa gift cards during the on-site finals in May to which all of the above winners are invited (more details to come later). Do not fret if you may not be able to make the final round in person – we will mail your prize to you afterwards.

Remember that we will have many prizes in the remaining rounds of the year, so keep on practicing! Problems and solutions for this round are now posted at: woburnchallenge.com/past-contests. Once again, we thank all of you who participated, as well as teachers for sharing this with your students. 

See the full contest results.

Last but not least, happy holidays from the Woburn Challenge Team!

December Contest

Hello Challengers!

Our 2nd online round of the 2018-19 season will be held on Friday, December 14th, 2018 from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET. If you participated last year, you must still complete this year's registration form using the link on the registration page but you can continue using the same PEG Judge username.) If you participated in online round 1, please use the same PEG Judge username and there's no need to register again.

If you are new to the Woburn Challenge, you can visit http://wcipeg.com/contests to check out some of the past contests and familiarize yourself with submitting solutions to our online grading environment (the PEG Judge). It is also a good idea to try and solve some of the problems on the WCIPEG website in order to sharpen your problem-solving prowess!

Don't miss it!

Round 1 Problems, Solutions, and Results are Available!

Thank you for joining us in a new season, new and returning participants alike! This round was certainly a learning experience for us. Due to an unexpectedly high level of participation, our grading system was unable to handle the load for the first time in four years! Instead, the contest was run effectively in “offline submission mode”. The system has been improved, so we are hoping for the best in round 2. We appreciate your bearing with us through the technical difficulties!

In spite of hardships with grading, perfect scores were attained in all of the divisions. Returning champion Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School came out on top in the senior division. A fantastic comeback – keep up the good work!

The senior division prizewinners for this round are: 

1. Zixiang Zhou of London Central Secondary School ($100)

2. Andrew Qi Tang of Erindale Secondary School ($50)

3. Royi Luo of Richmond Hill High School ($25)

4. Sunny Lan of Richmond Hill High School ($25)

5. Alex Tianyi Xu of White Oaks Secondary School ($25)

6. Michae Huang of Bell High School ($25)

7. Anish Mahto of Turner Fenton Secondary School ($25)

8. Brian Chau of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($25)

The intermediate division prizewinners for this round are:

1. Evan Zhang of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($50)

2. Aaron Tang of Churchill Heights Public School ($25)

3. Yi Deng of William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute ($25)

4. Robert Chung of Woburn Collegiate Institute ($25)

Finally, we would like to applaud a job well done to the top Junior division finishers: Albert Lai and Jerry Zhu of Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School, Eric Pu of Stephen Lewis Secondary School, and Eric Wang of Glenforest Secondary School.

Congratulations! These prizes will be distributed as Visa gift cards during the on-site finals in May to which all of the above winners are invited (more details to come later). Do not fret if you may not be able to make the final round in person – we will mail your prize to you afterwards.

Remember that we will have many prizes in the remaining rounds of the year, so keep on practicing! Problems and solutions for this round are now posted at: woburnchallenge.com/past-contests. Once again, we thank all of you who participated, as well as teachers for sharing this with your students. 

See the full contest results.

November Contest

Hello Challengers!

We’d like to welcome you back to a new year of great challenges!

Our 1st online round of the 2018-19 season will be held on Friday, November 16th, 2018 from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET.  

Please read more about the contest details and register to participate!  (If you participated last year, you must complete this year's registration form using the link on the registration page but you can continue using the same PEG Judge username.)

If you are new to the Woburn Challenge, you can visit http://wcipeg.com/contests to check out some of the past contests and familiarize yourself with submitting solutions to our online grading environment (the PEG Judge). It is also a good idea to try and solve some of the problems on the WCIPEG website in order to sharpen your problem-solving prowess!

Don't miss it!