The Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC) and Precarn
Inc are inviting students at all levels (high school, college and
university) to participate in the 2010 Intelligent Systems Challenge.
Computer professionals in industry and academia are also invited to
pass this message to interested students and to consider advising a
student team.  The challenge is a programming contest where students
are asked to write a program that is able to automatically
characterize events reported in news media, particularly when there
are multiple data sources providing context for the information. This
year's challenge was proposed by CAE.  CAE is a world leader in
providing modelling and simulation technologies and integrated
training solutions for the civil aviation industry, defence forces,
public security agencies, and healthcare organizations around the
globe.

To participate, please visit the challenge website:
http://www.intelligent-systems-challenge.ca.  Download the full
problem description and start programming today!  Registration is
currently open (until Feb 28).  Cash prizes will be awarded to the
best solutions in each student category (high school/college,
undergraduate and graduate levels).  Winners will be announced at the
2010 Intelligent Systems Collaborative Conference in Ottawa, Ontario
which runs from May 31-June 2.

The challenge is a joint initiative of the Canadian Artificial
Intelligence Association (CAIAC) and Precarn Inc.  The goal of this
annual competition is to promote innovation in Canada; establish and
strengthen contacts between academia and industry in Canada; increase
the awareness of and interest in technologies and methods from the
areas of artificial intelligence and intelligent systems for
addressing the challenges faced by Canadian industry, organizations
and society as a whole; contribute to the development of students’
aptitude and ability through solving challenging real world problems.

--

Kate Larson, University of Waterloo
Froduald Kabanza, Universite de Sherbrooke
Michael Horsch, University of Saskatchewan
(The 2010 IS Challenge Organizing Committee)

and

Holger H. Hoos, University of British Columbia (on behalf of the IS Challenge Steering Committee)