Number code cracked
Once again, numerous students of the Bachelor degree programmes "Media Computing" and "E-Government" of the Faculty of Communication and Environment took part in the annual internal computer science competition for freshmen. Henning Felder from the Media Computing course was able to prevail against all fellow students and won first place.
Fltr: Henning Felder, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Greveler
This year's competition task in the seminar on the technical basics of computer science led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Greveler was to find a certain so-called hexadecimal number of a numerical code. These special numbers, which consist of 16 different digits and therefore exceed the usual decimal system by six, are of great importance when processing data. The students first had to develop a strategy and then automatically try out a large number of digit combinations until the result was found. In doing so, they broke new ground and learned about the properties of numbers that are not normally taught at school. Programming under time pressure was also a new experience for many. Within less than an hour, though, the code was cracked and Henning Felder was the winner.
"An inclination towards mathematics, an interest in logic and a creative approach to the digital world are ideal prerequisites for studying computer science. Our competition is a special challenge: the result has to be achieved very quickly, but it has to be correct," emphasizes Prof. Greveler.
"I started by trying out all possible combinations of numbers," explains prize winner Felder. He opted for a dual variant of the study programme so that he can have vocational training in a company and gain a university degree at the same time. Greveler is very much in favour of dual programmes since they are rapidly gaining in importance. "The study success rate with dual studying is particularly high”, says Greveler.
In its computer science programmes Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences provides a well-founded basic education linked with application relevance and current technologies.