The scoreboard has spoken
As EGOI is slowly coming to a close, Friday brought the final ranking
On Friday morning, it was once again time for the participants to get their brains and their computers ready. At 10:00 CEST, they set out for their second five hour trip to contest-land, where algorithms can get you out of the strangest situations.
In one of the tasks for example, the girls went on a mission to defend mountain hikers from cows gone mad. They had to program their way to a strategic placement for walls to separate cow-populated areas from hiking areas without isolating the areas reserved for hiking from each other. In the first task, the participants had to figure out the minimum total price one would pay to purchase a certain amount of items on a shopping list while taking into account different sales promotions and their rules’ influence on the price. Another task took the girls on a train trip from Zurich to Lugano and through the many tunnels on the way. The challenge was to find out whether a collision is to be expected, given the way the trains operate and the properties of the tunnels and tracks.
The final task was framed in terms of a game. Based on the rules, the participants had to find the number of scenarios in which each of the two players would win. At EGOI itself, there are of course also questions about winning - medals, in this case. Roughly an hour after the official end of the contest at 15:00 CEST, the big moment had arrived: The scoreboard of the second day was added on the website and the participants were able to see their place in the ranking.
After the contest and the discussion of the solutions the Swiss delegation came by the Technopark to say Hello to the organizers working there. However, they did not receive a normal greeting. Instead, water balloons started flying back and forth. Whether participant, leader or scientific committee, in the end, everyone ended up sitting in one of the fountains on the square in front of Technopark, splashing water at each other. People could be seen trying to dry their wet socks on the hot concrete or replacing their soaked shirts with the brand-new EGOI hoodies.
In the evening, some participants went for one last night of social gaming on Discord. Together with volunteers, they played Tichu with virtual cards or behaved suspiciously on the “Among Us” spaceship. A few people could also be spotted in the channel “just-chilling-and-talking”, which is, well, exactly what it sounds like. Many participants were probably spending time with their delegations, celebrating a successful EGOI. The EGOI organizers also wanted to go out for dinner in a restaurant in the evening, however, they underestimated how much time they’d spent in meetings. Past ten in the evening, no restaurant would open its kitchen for them. The backup plan was to eat on the scenic rooftop terrace at the house where EGOI chair Stefanie Zbinden lives. Unfortunately, once they got to the terrace, a thunderstorm was brewing and the sky was illuminated by lighting. In the end, everyone successfully squeezed into Stefanie’s flat for an impromptu pasta party!
