MathWorks kicks off its 2010 Fall MATLAB Online Programming Contest

MathWorks kicked off its 2010 Fall MATLAB Online Programming Contest today, challenging MATLAB users around the world to solve a navigation problem. The contest, titled “Sailing Home,” runs from November 10–17.

The contest fosters collaboration in engineering and science by encouraging participants to build on and borrow from the code written by fellow competitors. All participants have access to the code entered in the contest, making it easy to share ideas. As a result, participants have the opportunity to learn techniques from their peers for programming in MATLAB and writing more effective code.

“Collaboration is king when it comes to this contest. Each year, I continue to be amazed by how users in our community build off each other’s ideas. Their passion for this contest surpasses my expectations every time.” – Ned Gulley, design lead for eProducts and services and original developer of MATLAB Central at MathWorks

“Participating in MathWorks program contests can be addictive. I first participated in April 2003, and today it remains one of the most fun ways I know of to learn new MATLAB tips and tricks.” – Hannes Naudé, consulting director at Innoventix and winner of the “Compression Sensing” MATLAB Online Programming Contest (April 2010)

MathWorks is leveraging social networking platforms, including MATLAB Central, throughout the contest so that participants can discuss their solutions and strategies globally with peers. This real-time interaction creates a more innovative programming process.

MATLAB Online Programming Contests are held semiannually by MathWorks for its 1.3 million active MATLAB users. Each contest presents a different problem to be solved within a week. Visit mathworks.com/matlabcentral/contest to register for the “Sailing Home” MATLAB Online Programming Contest and follow @ContestLeaders on Twitter and Facebook for frequent contest updates.

Analyst firm Gartner ranks social-learning as a high-benefit platform that gives learners the ability to:

* Establish a presence or social profile that reflects their expertise and interests
* Create, discuss, share and capture learning content as learning objects
* Organize and find learning objects from varied sources, such as search or peer ratings
* Interact with peers in their social network and reach beyond their networks to other trusted sources of information
* Engage in experience-based learning exercises
* Receive real-time, online coaching and support

(Susan Landry, “Hype Cycle for Business Use of Social Technologies, 2010,” Gartner, Inc., July 30, 2010.)

For more details on the contest visit

http://www.pitchengine.com/mathworks/enter-the-2010-fall-matlab-online-programming-contest/99814/

MATLAB Central Contest Page: mathworks.com/matlabcentral/contest/

MATLAB Programming Contest Blog: blogs.mathworks.com/contest