Ryan King

Hi, my name is Ryan King and I’m currently a Year 13 student at Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga, Auckland. Ever since a young age I’ve always had a passion for computer science, programming, and anything technology related. I’ve regularly strived to pursue this passion of mine as much as possible alongside my regular schoolwork. Outside of school work I'm involved in the choir, Gold Duke of Edinburgh and field archery at my local archery club. I also enjoy hunting, tramping, and just love hanging out with friends and family.

I am incredibly appreciative and honoured to have been selected as part of the New Zealand team to represent the country at the 2018 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Japan. The IOI is the foremost programming competition for high school students, and is one of the biggest achievements for a student who is incredibly passionate about computer science.

Programming for me has been the epitome of applying critical thinking and problem solving in such an exciting and practical context. The IOI consists of algorithmic problems, where contestants must write computer programs with efficient algorithms and data structures that run under specific time and memory limits in order to solve them. Besides competitive programming however, what makes computer science so appealing to me is the opportunity to create software and technology to solve authentic real life problems. Helping to run the programming club at my school, I enjoy spreading the interest and awareness of this subject/field to other students.

In the future I’d love to work as a software engineer for one of the technology giants (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft) in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, before hopefully someday launching my own startup company. In an age where the demand for workers in technology is always increasing, I will always be grateful for the opportunities and support given to me to pursue my interests in this field, especially at a young age.