Inside the Baku Convention Center, the room was electric. With less than two minutes on the clock, Benjamin Jeter was still typing fast and laser-focused, as teammates Sahaj Rastogi and Theodore Gossett leaned over his shoulder, checking and double-checking their work on a computer screen.
That crescendo is classic for the International Collegiate Programming Contest, or ICPC, World Finals -- the global "Olympics of college coding" -- held in September.
In five pressure-cooked hours, triads of students share one computer and race to solve a slate of algorithmic problems, submitting code that must compile, pass hidden tests and run efficiently. It is teamwork under a microscope and math-meets-software at full sprint.
Outside the contest hall, Arizona State University coach and faculty sponsor Zilin Jiang paced, barred by rules from offering any help. For the final hour, the scoreboard and video feeds had been frozen, a tradition that turns the endgame into pure suspense. As the contest wraps, no team knows who is surging or slipping.
"The last few minutes were so tense," Jeter says. "I thought, calm down. We can do this. We've got this."
In 2024, Jiang, an assistant professor of mathematics in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a joint appointment in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, revived ASU's long-dormant ICPC program.
He shepherded a brand-new trio of students -- undergraduate computer science major Rastogi, undergraduate mathematics major Jeter and graduate mathematics student Gossett -- from their first practice in February to the ICPC North America Championship in May, where they finished 12th and solidified their spot in the World Finals.
With support from both schools, that momentum carried them across continents to Baku, Azerbaijan, the famed City of Winds, where gusts off the Caspian felt like a fitting tailwind for a program suddenly in motion again. By the time they reached the Baku Convention Center, the wind at their backs had become unmistakable momentum.
The team was no longer making a comeback. It was a contender.
When the results were finally released from the 49th ICPC World Finals, ASU placed 17th globally out of 140 total teams, earning a Highest Honors award. For the honors distinction, the team was collectively listed as tied for 13th place in the official release.
In North America, ASU ranked fourth, trailing only Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland, and finishing ahead of Carnegie Mellon University. The team successfully solved nine challenging and intensive problems.
"I am very proud of the team," Jiang said. "They started with nothing eight months ago and have now received global recognition on the world stage."
But how did a newly revived program climb so far, so fast? With focus that wouldn't quit.
"They discussed problems on the plane. And at breakfast. And at lunch. And on the bus," Jiang says with a laugh. "At one point, I told them that they might want to consider taking a break."
Between strategy huddles, the trio pooled resources to secure an extra hotel room so they could get plenty of rest. They even made a tactical run to an electronics store to buy a keyboard that matched those at the convention center, so their practice setup would feel as familiar as possible under pressure. And when they weren't coding, they were still sharpening instincts, debating approaches, trading solutions and talking through failure modes.
The team's mindset grew out of a campus culture of collaborative problem-solving. The group originally coalesced through Mathematics Tomorrow, a club where students of all majors meet to tackle puzzles and grab a slice of pizza. For the ICPC crew, what began as a working group became a true friendship. Somewhere between mock contests and travel days, the three started gaming together and built the kind of trust that shows up in the clutch.
But every great contest leaves a ghost problem. For the ASU team, it was the 10th on their docket. Even amid the celebration, the trio can't resist picking at that loose thread.
"We had a solution for the 10th problem but there was no time to code it," Jeter says. "We just needed a few more minutes."
Riding this finish, ASU is investing in the next generation. Jiang plans to launch the Introduction to Competitive Programming class in the spring, creating an on-ramp for students from any background to learn contest techniques.
"Ultimately, my hope is to create opportunities that help students gain an appreciation of mathematics," he said. "The skills you get from being good at math are flexible and can put you in an ideal position in many fields and professions."
Students who want to try the ICPC next year should connect with the ASU chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery and the Software Developers Association at ASU for information on tryouts and practices. Jiang is open to coaching again, but he's clear about the bigger goal: a lasting, student-led collaboration.
As for returning to compete, the students remain undecided. But all three want to help seed future teams, mentor newcomers and keep the momentum going.
"I'm definitely open to working with other teams in the future," Rastogi says. "I hope that we're creating the foundation of a community."
Gossett says that the process of training for the competition led to increased confidence and personal growth.
"I never thought of myself as someone who would do these kinds of contests," he says. "But I found I could compete. Ultimately, I learned that a lot of success is a willingness to put in the work."
Today, the party can wait but the pillows can't.
"Right now, I want to get some sleep," Rastogi says with a smile.