FAQ

1.        Only students are allowed to code? Can Professors also code?

           ANS: Yes. All members form a team.
          Every team member can contribute on any aspect to solve a contest problem.

2.        Do we need to attempt all 3 problems? Can we choose only one problem?

           ANS: Yes. Each problem is handled independently. You can register one or more problems.

3.        Should there be exactly 6 students in each group?

           ANS: The member count is not limited.

4.        How can we send our solver to you? via Email? Just the C/C++ Code?

           ANS: We will set up a FTP server. All submissions should be done via ftp.
          The detailed requirement for submission will be announced later.
          Typically, it requires the binary code and a brief readme file.

5.        Is it possible to work on a different platform, like Windows OS visual studio?

           ANS: It depends on each problem.
          Almost all submissions will be evaluated at a linux or workstation platform.
          You may develop your tool under Windows OS, but you have to port it to linux before submission.
          Otherwise, your submission will be considered as a fail.

6.        Could we cite a paper that is accepted but not published yet?

           ANS: The contestants can refer to a paper that is accepted but not published yet. Typically, the contestants need not to submit any document to describe their algorithm.
          The contestants only need to submit their program code.

7.       What we need to upload for a contestant problem?

         ANS: Basically, the contestants should upload two files: (1) a binary executable file; and (2) a README file (a text file to describe how to run your program).
          Besides, in each problem, the contestants may be requested to upload other files for the evaluation of this problem.

8.        How can we upload the files for a contestant problem?

         ANS: After you make the registration, you will receive the instructions (including the registration number and the password) for uploading the files.

9.        Are the monetary awards only for the students?

         ANS: Yes. The recipient of monetary award must be a student.

10.        What is alpha and beta test submission?

         ANS: Before your final program submission, we provide an alpha test and a beta test for your programs. The alpha and beta tests help you verify the correctness and performances of your programs which will be executed in our evaluation environment. We will provide you the evaluation results of each test. Based on them, you can further improve your programs before the final program submission.

11.        Can the advisor be the primary contact?

         ANS: It's okay. Please put the message that "The advisor will be the primary contact" in the Remark field of the registration form.

12.        Can there be more than 6 students competing? I listed a seventh student in the Advisor 2 field because there were no more slots for students on the form.

         ANS: It's okay. You may put the seventh student information in the Remark field of the registration form. You may also put the information that "Since no more slots for students, the Advisor 2 field should be the seventh student" in the Remark field of the registration form.

13.        What programming languages can we use?

         ANS: Basically, the contestants can freely use any programming language (unless there is a limitation in the problem description).
         However, the contestants themselves must make sure their binary codes can run on our test machines.

14.        Are only students allowed? Or may be engineers from industry?

         ANS: The contest is open to any multi-person team worldwide. However, the monetary awards are only for students.
         In other words, the recipient of the monetary award must be a student. If a team is formed only by industry engineers, the team cannot receive the monetary award.

15.        Do I need to use the CIC machines to develop our program?

         ANS: The topic chairs will use CIC machines to evaluate the programs. To ensure the consistency, you are encouraged to use the CIC machines to develop your program.
         However, even if you do not use the CIC machines to develop your program, you still can upload your program for alpha test, beta test, and final test.

16.        How can I use the CIC machines?

         ANS: We will create an account on the CIC machines (Linux CentOS) for each team to develop and verify its programs.
         However, for security issue we will need the IP addresses of the machines that you will use to get access to the CIC machines.
         You can provide us more than one IP address by either of the following two methods:

         (1) E-mail your IP addresses to CAD Contest cad.contest.iccad@gmail.com. Please do clearly state your team number and your IP addresses.

         (2)click “Modify Your Registration Form” (i.e., go to the link http://cad-contest.el.cycu.edu.tw/registration/reg_i_modify.html )
             and then fill your IP addresses into the Remark field of the registration form of your team.

17.        If I did not submit files in alpha test, may I still submit files for beta test?

         ANS: Yes. You are encouraged to submit files for beta test and final test.