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Irish Imagine Cup winners 2011 on visit in European Parliament and revealed the ‘save’ road to success

WP_000031The winners of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011, have visited today the European Parliament to showcase their winning solution. “Our success at the Microsoft Imagine Cup wasn’t just a win for Ireland, it was a win for Europe and we’re delighted to have the opportunity to come to Brussels to meet with European representatives, and especially the Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas. The high incidence of death by road accidents isn’t just an Irish issue, it’s a problem all over Europe, and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to share our ideas on how road safety can be improved with top European policy makers”   dixit Calum, member of the winning team. And yes, the Commissioner was really impressed by the work that these young students have accomplished so far, and said he wanted to look deeper into their solution (watch video).

The team designed a device that plugs into a car and monitors dangerous driving behavior and road conditions, providing instant feedback to both the driver and the car owner. The team’s solution uses embedded technology, Windows Phone 7, Bing Maps and the Windows Azure cloud computing platform to change driving habits and reduce road deaths, which impact a significant number of young lives each year. With its victory, the team won $25,000 (U.S.).

In addition, they had various meetings with Irish MEP’s and got a tour of the Microsoft’s European Cloud and Interoperability Centre in Brussels.

 

During the day and the various discussion, I have also learnt  how they got to the success. 

Here are the top 3 tips from the winning team 2011

  1. Ensure that you, as a student, are passionate about your idea, that will make you walk the extra mile.WP_000022
  2. Balance your team to ensure that all competencies needed are well covered (from technical development, to graphical design and PR-tasks), but go for natural growth on the way.
  3. Include all latest technologies in your project, and develop  - if relevant/possible – some new devices yourself

 

The 2012 Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition is now open for entries and further information can be seen on www.imaginecup.com .

Wish you good luck with your application and hope to see you on stage !