Two seniors from the Information Technology Education (ITE) Program of this university bagged the fourth spot in the annual IT Quiz Tournament: The 3rd Mindanao Tertiary Schools ICT Quiz Show which was held last October 3, 2008 at the Atrium of Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City as one of the culminating activities of the ORO BEST EXPO 2008.

Lagging behind in the easy round, ranking only at seventh place, Catherine Remolleno, BSCS – 4, and Aiza Loraine Mencidor BSIT – 4, beat the odds with very tight scores against other competing schools in the average and difficult rounds, slowly advancing to the 4th rank.

The team made it to the final five with Bukidnon State University ranking first, Mindanao Polytechnic State College in the 2nd place, AMA CLC - CDO in the third, and MSU-IIT tailing behind at fifth place. The UIC ITE team gained the fourth spot after the nerve-breaking questions in the difficult round.

This writer, being the coach, was convinced that the team, who was Region XI’s sole representative, would make it to the top five. With less than a week preparation, the contestants relied on each other’s individual forte in the different fields of ICT, battling it out with twelve other schools and universities all over Mindanao. The champion brought home 12,000 pesos, a plaque, certificates, and a full AUTOCAD scholarship from STI College.

Among the topics covered in the competition were Data Communications and Networks, Operating System, Programming Languages, Databases, Data Structures, Software Engineering, System Analysis and Design, ICT Trends, Compiler Designs, Logic Design, and Issues on IT Security. Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and STI – Cagayan de Oro organized the said event.

Last year, UIC Team ranked third with Mechelle Dimas, Katherine Dacanay, and Mary Grace Ignacio as participants. The whole program is looking forward to “really getting the bacon; be champions”, in the coming 2009 Mindanao-Wide IT Quiz Tournament.