Win a worldwide college software competition, and people will think you're some kind of computer geek. Win it two years running, and they'll wonder whether your campus is full of them.

But student programmers at N.C. State University know better.

Combining software savvy with business and marketing skills, NCSU finished first earlier this month in a prestigious contest known as the IEEE Computer Society International Design Competition. It was the first time a school had won the $20,000 award twice.

The trick, according to team members and their advisers, was to put down the software manual and hone the sales pitch.

"You obviously need a good idea, and the product has to work, but a big part of winning is how you sell it," team member Blake Lucas said. "This isn't pictures taped to a poster board. We had a business plan, binders, business cards, pamphlets, everything."

It's no coincidence that this guide to successful sales sounds like a page from corporate America's playbook. The computer society bills itself as the world's largest organization of computer professionals. Microsoft sponsored the event, and many of the judges come from the business world.

If NCSU has an advantage in the seven-year-old competition, it can be traced to a 16-week course offered through the university's Computer Science Senior Design Center. The center breaks students into teams of four and presents them with a real problem assigned by an outside corporation.

The corporation donates $5,000 to help cover the costs of solving the problem. Students are then expected to write extensively about the process over the course of a semester.

More than just code

Students usually grumble about all the writing, said Robert Fornaro, the center's director since it opened in 1994. But the writing will be needed when it comes to proposals, business plans and marketing strategy.

That's why Fornaro's assistant, Margaret Heil, isn't even a computer scientist. She holds degrees in technical communication, biology and English literature.

The students already know how to write code. Heil's job is to make sure they can work as a team and communicate clearly. Corporate advisers say those skills pay dividends in the workplace. They don't hurt in a competition, either.

"We approach this as though we are a company with money to spend," said Kathy Land, chief judge for the competition and a program manager for Northrop Grumman, a major manufacturer of high-tech defense systems. "You need to convince us you have an idea worth pursuing. If all you do is write code, I can go anywhere for that."

Land said as many as 2,000 teams expressed interest in the competition this year. But just 133 submitted complete reports for judging. Hundreds of judges from around the world sorted through the proposals from 28 countries before narrowing the list to 10 teams.

The finalists were flown to Washington to present their projects in person.

UV in 3-D

This year's theme for the competition was "Preserving, Protecting and Enhancing the Environment."

A team from Romania designed a device small enough to be worn on the body that instantly warns users of dangerous air pollution levels. A team from China used wireless sensors to help wildlife officers catch poachers by identifying the source of gunshots.

The NCSU group chose to focus on the depletion of the ozone layer and the related increase in ultraviolet radiation. Using real-time data from government sensors, the team calculated UV exposure for any three-dimensional form, such as a human body.

UV exposure is currently measured on flat, horizontal panels. Readings taken from every dimension are expected to help researchers who study the relationship between global climate changes and diseases such as skin cancer and cataracts. That information, in turn, can help people understand and avoid the risks of overexposure.

As a team member, Lucas knows the project details can enthrall a good geek. But he appreciates something else, too.

"If I find something I can patent someday, I know what I'm going to do with it," he said.