Student Blog
Google news and updates especially for students
From drones to satellites — developers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa compete in Hash Code 2016
March 31, 2016
On a Thursday evening in February, more than 17,000 developers waited in anticipation to find out this year’s challenge for the Online Qualification Round of
Hash Code
. The
live stream
announcement quickly revealed the theme — drone deliveries — and within a few minutes teams were immersed in reviewing the problem statement. The four hour countdown began.
In case you missed it,
Hash Code
is a team-based programming competition for students and professionals across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. What started as a competition for 200 participants in France, has grown in just three years to reach thousands of developers across multiple continents. What’s unique is that rather than solving a series of algorithmic tasks, teams are given one problem to solve that’s been built by engineers at Google and inspired from a real-life problem. Teams have the chance to optimize and submit their solution as many times as they’d like in order to improve their score.
Past year’s challenges
have included optimizing the layout of a
data center
or the route of a
Project Loon balloon
.
The competition takes place over two stages: an Online Qualification Round and a Final Round. During this year’s Online Qualification Round, participants
optimized drone delivery schedules
. Teams could compete from wherever they’d like, including joining
one of our 300+ hubs
. Hubs are organized by participants as a way for teams in the same university or city to meetup and compete side-by-side.
Students at a
hub
in Andela, Kenya
A month later, the top 52 teams (representing 22 different countries!) gathered at the Google Paris office to tackle
the Final Round problem
, which involved optimizing the operations of a set of
Terra Bella satellites
.
Team Saar-Land was one of five teams whose members came from different countries, in their case Germany and Switzerland.
Teams were given six hours to come up with their best solution. The first place team was YMTeam from Belarus, followed closely behind by
Ababahalamaha
from Moscow and
Die Bergbokbende
from South Africa.
Congratulations to YMTeam for winning Hash Code 2016.
Congratulations to everyone who participated! If you’d like to receive a notification when registration opens up for Hash Code 2017,
fill out this form
.
52 teams from 22 countries met at Google Paris
to compete in the Final Round of Hash Code 2016
Written by Jessica Safir, University Programs
Labels
Ambassador Program
14
Community
14
Conferences
16
Diary of a Summer Intern
41
Diary of a Summer Intern 2012
18
Education
19
Events
13
Exploring Design at Google
4
Going Green
6
Gone Google
2
Google+
6
Googlers
14
GradTips
9
Hangouts On Air
21
Inside ITRP
6
Intern Program
73
Interns Making an Impact
7
Life at Google
17
My Summer at Google
15
My Summer at Google 2012
10
Open Source
9
PhD
7
Products
94
Programs and Competitions
116
Recruiter Tips and Tricks
15
Scholarships
57
Student Tips
15
Students
13
Tips and Tricks
27
Women in Engineering
20
Young Innovators
10
Archive
2016
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Feed
Google
on
Follow @GoogleStudents
Interested in opportunities and programs for students? Visit
google.com/students
.
We love feedback—
send us some email
or comment on a post!