Meet Milanin!

Marathon Match Finalist
Aleksandr Milanin's profile
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Milanin
Aleksandr Milanin
RUSSIAN FEDERATION

About Aleksandr Milanin
Lost in ACM ICPC in 2012. Lost in TCO 2013, 2017, and 2018. Still eager for defeats.

What is your most memorable Marathon Match and why?
CirclesMix, where you had to draw an image with a limited set of circles. I wrote my own visualizer for that problem and I still like it’s animation and how the resulting images look.

What’s your favorite Topcoder Marathon Match problem and why?
One of the first matches I participated in - The Worst Test Case For Naive Travelling Salesman Algorithm. I came up with a very nice solution but unfortunately didn’t have much experience to win the match.

Who do you think is the most fierce or talented coder at Topcoder and why?
Petr. You should read “The 40 facts about Petr Mitrichev”.

What do you do when not working?
I play soccer.

Where do you work? Tell us about your space(s).
Microsoft, I have a work space there.

If you could give your past self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t sell MSFT at $45.

What kind of music do you listen to while working on your solutions?
Absolutely no music.

What is the dream project you want to build, design, or solve for?
I work on Cortana - voice assistant. It could have been a dream project, but…

What does Topcoder mean to you?
Fun mixed with pain.

What are you most excited about for this year’s TCO Finals?
I can’t wait to visit Texas for the second time.

Do you strive to be at TCO every year and if so, why does it matter to you?
Yes, because it’s the only way to meet tourist in person.

What was your secret to getting a ticket for the TCO finals more than once?
I switched tracks.