The International Association of Computing and Machinery (ACM) has awarded the UCLA student chapter of ACM the 2022-2023 Outstanding Chapter Activities Student Chapter Excellence Award. This marks the sixth time that ACM at UCLA has received this award in the past seven years, and since 2004, UCLA has won more awards than any other school’s chapter. The ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards are held annually in the spring to recognize outstanding student chapters that have demonstrated significant initiative throughout the academic year. Only one student chapter out of almost 700 international chapters receives this specific award, which acknowledges a chapter’s excellence in sponsoring a series of exceptional activities throughout the year or having focused their efforts on a single major activity.
The ACM at UCLA features eight committees that each specialize in a unique subset of computer science. The AI committee provides hands-on experience in machine learning, while the Hack committee teaches web development at all levels. The TeachLA committee offers programming courses to K-12 Title 1 schools in LA, and the Cyber committee hosts workshops on making secure systems and participates in national CTF competitions. The ICPC committee teaches competitive programming, and the Design committee creates graphics with an in-house font and designs. The Studio committee teaches video game development, and the ACM-W committee focuses on creating a diverse community in tech.
Several events hosted by the ACM at UCLA contributed to the award, such as the CodeSprint LA 2022, a beginner-friendly algorithms contest with more than 400 student participants, 80 of which were from UCLA. The Student Run Studios Showcase 2022 was a 5-month long student-led video game creation project that culminated in an event where over 150 students showcased their completed video games. The Los Angeles Capture the Flag 2023 competition hosted by the Cyber committee saw 1700 attendees tackle 46 challenges, listen to 8 speakers, and compete for over $4000 in prizes funded by several organizations. Hack on the Hill 2023 was a beginner-friendly hackathon with the theme of intersectional environmentalism that provided over 250 attendees with resources. and provided students with resources to learn about web development and building their first application.
Winning chapters in each of the five areas receive $500 USD and a “best of” icon to display on their chapter’s website. These chapters are featured on the ACM website and in ACM MemberNet.