Another Victory for Muhlenberg’s Competitive Programming Team
The group of computer science and mathematics students, who refer to themselves as “Nerd Club,” took first place in the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Northeast Region competition for the fourth time since 2019.By: Meghan Kita Tuesday, April 15, 2025 08:32 AM
From left, Aidan Hamilton ’26, Andrew Franklin ’25, and Max Trimmer ’27Earlier this month, Muhlenberg’s Competitive Programming Team — or, as the students on the team call it, “Nerd Club” — claimed its fourth victory since 2019 at the programming contest that’s part of the Northeast Region’s Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. The team also won in 2023, 2022, and 2019.
The winning team included Andrew Franklin ’25, a computer science major; Aidan Hamilton ’26, a computer science major and mathematics minor; and Max Trimmer ’27, a mathematics major.
“Nerd Club is like a family. It’s a space where people from all kinds of backgrounds come together to learn, support each other, and grow. We collaborate, we compete, and most importantly, we have fun. The competitions are just one part of the experience — they bring out our best and show how strong we are when we work together.”
—Andrew Franklin ’25
“On the surface, Nerd Club is about interview prep and coding competitions — sharpening technical skills, practicing algorithms, and preparing for the kinds of challenges we face in tech interviews,” says Franklin, a student-athlete on the football and wrestling teams who was also part of the winning programming team in 2023. “But once you dig deeper, it becomes so much more than that. Nerd Club is like a family. It’s a space where people from all kinds of backgrounds come together to learn, support each other, and grow. We collaborate, we compete, and most importantly, we have fun. The competitions are just one part of the experience — they bring out our best and show how strong we are when we work together.”
Nerd Club has about 20 total students who come to weekly meetings to discuss an algorithm not covered in class and work on solving related problems in LeetCode, a platform that helps students practice the types of coding problems that are often part of interviews for tech jobs.
“That’s the main goal of Nerd Club: solving problems in a group setting and making sure everyone understands the solution. It’s been a great way to get the students ready for the job market.”
—Assistant Professor of Computer Science Proyash Podder
“That’s the main goal of Nerd Club: solving problems in a group setting and making sure everyone understands the solution,” says Assistant Professor of Computer Science Proyash Podder, the group’s advisor. “It’s been a great way to get the students ready for the job market.”
Nerd Club alumni have gone on to positions with McKinsey & Co., Amazon, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, among others.
