Tools for the competition: A visit to the computer science junior camp

The spacious workshop room at the CISPA Cysec Lab at the Beckerturm in St. Ingbert is dominated by a focused atmosphere of silence. Quiet conversations and murmurs can be heard from time to time. 20 boys and girls aged between 14 and 15 are hunched over their keyboards and computer mice, looking intently at the large screens in front of them. In between, workshop leader Philip Lukert and three student tutors are busy giving tips and answering questions. Lines of code are running over the screens. Some students are focussed on a computer game that prompts them to solve a task. On the second day of the Junior Camp, the focus is on programming using the Python programming language. In principle, this is nothing new for the participants, but the complexity of the tasks poses a challenge for many.

But what exactly is it about? One part of the group is tasked with creating a digital image composed of fine threads. To do this, the participants have to write a program code that precisely translates a photo of Albert Einstein into a thread image. It must be ensured, for example, that the dimensions of the image are correct and that the task can be carried out with a thread. At the program code level, this means that many details have to be taken into account. The second task the young people are working on is to program the automatic control of a computer mouse. The aim is to enable as many automated mouse clicks as possible in a video game.

©Felix Koltermann

Successful cooperation: CISPA Cysec Lab and the German National Computer Science Competition

The teenagers in the workshop room at the Beckerturm are participants in the 42nd Federal Computer Science Competition. Alone or in teams, they have already successfully completed the first round of the competition. At the Cysec Lab workshop, they are getting ready for the second round, for which solutions can be submitted until mid-April. The competition, which consists of three rounds, begins on September 1st of each year and lasts about a year. At the end, there are cash and non-cash prizes as well as admission to the German National Academic Foundation. Young people up to the age of 21 who are not yet studying or working are eligible to take part in the national competition. Those interested in taking part in the Juniorcamp Informatik applied separately and were selected by the Cysec Lab team.

This is the second time that the CISPA Cysec Lab has taken part in the national computer science competition as a workshop organizer. Andrea Ruffing, Head of the CISPA Cysec Lab, explains why the cooperation with the national competition is important to her: "We are happy to organize the junior camp in cooperation with the national competition for computer science and are particularly happy that we were able to supplement the format with our cybersecurity content." The topic of cybersecurity will take center stage on the third day of the workshop. Among other things, the young people will then have to use their skills to solve tricky tasks in the Cysec Lab's Escape Room.

Shared passion for computer science

During the workshop visit, it is fascinating to see the great concentration and dedication with which teenagers go through their code line by line in search of errors. This shows how important it is to foster IT talent at an early age. Although they have been working together for less than a day, there is already a great deal of familiarity between the tutors and the participants. But with so much shared passion for IT, it's hard to expect anything else. It's no surprise that Ruffing also has a lot of praise for the group: "It's always a pleasure to welcome particularly inquisitive participants here who are already involved in computer science in their free time."

More information on the national computer science competition can be found on the competition website. The fifth edition of the CISPA Zine features more information about the work of the CISPA Cysec Lab.