In partnership with the Department of Computer Science at University of New Brunswick Saint John, the Information Technology (IT) Division at J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) was pleased to sponsor the NB English High School 2017 Programming Contest. Competing in teams of two for the top prizes – including laptop computers with backpacks from JDI - 46 students from 13 different New Brunswick high schools participated.

The New Brunswick High Schools that were competing in the NB High School Programming Competition included:
Bernice MacNaughton 
Fredericton
Harbour View
Harrison Trimble
Kennebecasis Valley
Miramichi Valley
Moncton
Riverview
Rothesay
Rothesay Netherwood
St. Malachy's
Sussex Regional 

“Over the next 4 years, IT related jobs are expected to grow by 200,000 in Canada. This is huge. Just in New Brunswick alone we are looking at about 2,000 jobs in the next couple years," said Kevin McDonough, Director of IT at JDI who presented the laptops to the first place winners. The winners also each received a $1,000 bursary for their first year in the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree at UNBSJ from the university Vice President, Robert McKinnon.

Second place winners Jakob Roberts and Zachary Taylor from Riverview High School won iPad minis from IGT in Moncton and $500 bursaries while the third place winners Marco Lamothe and Zachary Leger from Moncton High School left with $100 Best Buy gift cards and $250 bursaries.

UNBSJ is accredited by the Canadian Information Processing Society "CIPS does site visits across Canada to the different computer science programs to ensure they’re meeting industry standards and that students graduating from these programs are ready to hit the ground running in the field of IT. We have been fully accredited and maintained our accreditation since 2005," said Dr. Ruth Shaw, professor in the Computer Science program at UNBSJ. The accreditation gives prospective students - and potential employers - the confidence that they are achieving a quality degree program that meets industry standards. J.D. Irving is forecasted to hire 90 IT professionals by 2019.

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