The ACM MCPC (Moroccan Collegiate Programming Contest) is a Moroccan programming championship organized every year under the auspices of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). The competition aims to present the best students in computer science, who wish to progress in this field and have regularly distinguished themselves in universities.
The MCPC is organized in the same spirit as the ACM Arab College Programming Competition (ACPC) that is divided into 3 different regions (Maghreb, Golf, Levant), and is governed by all the applicable rules of the ICPC (International competition). The winners of an MCPC competition have the chance to represent Morocco in the Arab world and compete against the best Arab teams. The winning ACPC teams are qualified for the final round which is the international university programming competition: ICPC.
Since 2014, Al Akhawayn University has been winning the MCPC contest 5 years in a row. AUI has been supporting ACM MCPC for several years now by hosting the contest twice at AUI – once in 2015 and again in 2016 – and organizing the International ACM ICPC’2015 in Marrakech in partnership with Mohammed V University and Mundiapolis. The competition grouped more than a hundred teams from top universities in the world, including Harvard, UCLA, Stanford, Tokyo University, and Saint Petersburg.
MCPC’s Process
During the year a large number of teams start to practice their “coding” knowledge in the different platforms and books available such as: Competitive programming 3 (Halim Felix), codeforces, uvajudge etc.
Once the teams are fully ready, they start with emulating in the Local competitions for 4 or 5 teams to be selected within one university. Finally, the Moroccan Collegiate Programming Contest (MCPC) starts during the Fall semester for two consecutive days. The first one helps students to warm up and try the different problems then the second one consists of a hectic 5 consecutive hours where the team members rival and try to solve as many problem sets as possible, keeping in mind the time constraint and different penalties.
The Golden Trio
AUI’s pride comes from the tremendous efforts and talent of its students that asserted dominance throughout the 5 successive years of competition. Referred to as the “Golden Trio” by newcomers, the team of three, alternating between Achraf Mamdouh, Ahmed Amine Boustani, Mohammed Khalil Aitbrahim, and Ahmed Lekssayss, achieved considerable accomplishments. To illustrate, they won the Maghreb price in both 2018 and 2017, the MCPCs from 2014 until 2018, and above all the qualification to the ICPC in China in that same year.
I would love to see a level beyond what we achieved
Mohammed Khalil Aitbrahim, AUI Alumnus
These incredible programmers are still very much involved in the current competitions and are delighted to see that the quality of the problem sets and the overall performance are increasing exponentially. For that matter they advise the new teams currently competing to:
- NOT worry about the small details! Spend more time practicing a variety of problems. The new ones make you more aware of the difficulty, and the easy ones build up your confidence and your rapidity in understanding concepts.
- Try and inspire others to catalyze motivation and healthy competition between the members of the team
- Try and be honest with yourself. Discipline is key!
- Do it because you love it!
MCPC amidst the pandemic
This year, COVID-19 didn’t spare MCPC. As a result, the whole competition was held fully online, with only Facebook lives as guidance.
The online experience gave me the chance to participate in the qualifications round. I am very grateful for this opportunity
Mehdi Alaoui, an AUI freshman
Fall 2020’s Newcomers also played a huge role in participating in the contest. In fact, 14 of the 18 AUIers teams were solely composed of newcomers. Problem-solving using programming was introduced to them just a few months ago. Since then, the previous teams – especially the ACM club- helped the new ones by setting up simulations of the contest, optimizing and enhancing their algorithms and problem-solving skills.
MCPC taught me the very true meaning of competition. I wanted to solve problems faster than anyone else. It also made me realize what skills I lack, including mathematical knowledge, slow understanding of problems, finding an optimal solution
Riad Daima, AUI freshman
The team composed of Mohamed Akiour, Bilal Elbouardi, and Anas Choukri were qualified for ACPC 2021 by being 3rd in the national qualifications. We are wishing them the best!
