Feature

Mainul Hassan

When I entered Notre Dame College the first thing that caught my attention was the colourful decoration at the gate that said Bangladesh Informatics Olympiad 2007 (BOI). The news of selection of the best computer programmers was already in the air and the regional venue for the Dhaka division was Notre Dame College (NDC). It had been announced that a test will be held by the Bangladesh Informatics Olympiad Committee (BOI) on January 19 all over Bangladesh. They organized a test to identify the students at Pre-University levels with good knowledge of and skill with computers.

The contest was held in the NDC computer lab. A total of 43 students from 15 colleges including NDC, Dhaka College, Viquarunnisa Noon College(VNC) and other well reputed institutes participated in the event.

The programme was divided into three sessions. In the first session the guests delivered their welcome speech. The President of BOI Dr. Md. Zafar Iqbal delivered his speech from Sylhet via mobile phone. In his speech he welcomed every one for attending the event and congratulated everyone for participating in the Informatics Olympiad arena and wished them good luck.

Dr. M. Kaykobad, Professor CSE department BUET, Dr. Miftahur Rahman Chairman CSE department North South University (NSU) and the Chief Guest Fr. Benjamin Costa (CSC), Principal NDC also spoke on the occasion.

A short presentation session was held and some pictures of the previous IOI held in Mexico were shown. The main purpose of this was to show the participants how huge the event really is! This was followed by the exam session.

Rajshahi:

The venue for Rajshahi division was Rajshahi University (RU). Mamnulul Keramot, Pro-VC of Rajshahi University (RU), inaugurated the event. Also present at the occasion were Professor. Abul Hashem, Dean of Science RU and Azizur Rahman Sharkar, Chairman of the Computer Science and Technology Department. The exam was held at the Computer Science and Technology (CST) department. A total of 29 students from 6 institutions participated in the session.

Khulna:

The Divisional Informatics Olympiad of the Khulna and Barisal division was held at the Khulna University of Science and Technology (KUET). Though 35 colleges registered, only 7 were present! After the exam two presentations were made based on Programming, logic and IT. Later a small question and answer session was held.

Chittagong:

At Chittagong a small mock test was held on January 18, a day before the main event of January 19. The BOI organising committee Chittagong wing organized it to give the students a first hand idea of the upcoming event. A huge number of students took part in the event. They were given sample questions to solve. After the test two judges briefed them and explained the answers.

The venue of the Chittagong division was Premier University. On January 19th the Chief Guest Alhaj A. B. M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Chairman, Board of Governor, Premier University and Mayor, Chittagong City Corporation, inaugurated the programme. There were 153 contestants from 12 different schools and colleges.

Sylhet:

The venue of the Sylhet division was Metropolitan University (MPU). A total of 105 contestants from 15 institutions appeared at the exam. The guests were BOI President Md. Zafar Iqbal, Dr. Kabir H Chowdhury and Chairman of the Board of Governors Dr Towfiq Rahman Chowdhury.