The odd ramblings of a geek pretending to not be "all grown up" : imaginecup

Competition is now underway!

AndrewParsons — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:34:33 GMT

Wow, this is easily the most epic event I’ve ever been involved in. If you’re following my twitter feed (@mrandypuppy) you’ll know that I’ve been using words like “awesome”, “cool” and “wow” a lot as well as a bunch of exclamation marks. I’m conscious of it but I keep getting wowed by the experience, and I know this is just the beginning.

So far I’ve experienced:

Catching a flight from Singapore to Cairo via Dubai with 60+ passengers being Imagine Cup competitors, their mentors and several of my peers. I was told about solutions that teams had come up with and the passion these kids have is inspiring, but with good reason. I mean, when an Indonesian talks for 30 minutes non-stop about a Malaria early detection system they developed, it’s hard to not be engaged.
Carrying the Cup through Customs at Cairo and being questioned about the mysterious box.
Today was briefing day – briefings for students, mentors, judges, employees, briefings everywhere. At first I thought it was over the top, but there is so much information to consume that it is totally warranted.
Tonight was the official opening of the Imagine Cup competition. The highlights were:

Student parade of the countries, a la the Olympics. Huge response as each team entered and again I was struck by how many countries are represented and how some of them strike me as out of this world – seriously, I never really thought about a team of students from Senegal showing solid innovation, or the inspiring stories of some of the teams just getting here like Palestine and Indonesia.
Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect for Microsoft, telling the students that they truly are the future of creativity in technology because they’re not hampered by previous experience and preconceptions.
Joe Wilson, the man who makes Imagine Cup happen every year (well, the man, behind the team of awesome dudes and dudettes that make it happen every year) pumping the students up and getting them ready for the competition and having all 445 students on the edge of their seats, hanging on every word.
The Egyptian student who stood up during the proceedings to thank his government for their support of Imagine Cup and the roar of the crowd in appreciation.

sigh.

Tomorrow – first EPIC day of the competition. All 67 Software Development teams present, as well as Game Development, Embedded Development and other teams – all in action. The logistics to make all this happen are nightmarish, but everyone behind the scenes are positive and upbeat and just making it all happen.

Finalists for National Imagine Cup Announced

AndrewParsons — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:36:44 GMT

I love my job. Sorry if you’ve heard me say that before, but I do. And it’s for moments like these. I got to tell the five teams who made it to the Australian Finals of the Imagine Cup that they had indeed succeeded in Round 1 and would be presenting their solutions to a judging panel and general public with a chance to win the opportunity to represent Australia in Cairo, Egypt at the world finals of Imagine Cup.

Team One – deCarbonate

Team deCarbonate decided to address environmental sustainability by helping people see the impact of their personal lives and actions through a carbon footprint calculator with mitigation suggestions and additional information aimed at highlighting actions that everyone can do to minimise their impact on the environment in a very real sense.

Team Two – eGreen

A comprehensive and potentially revolutionary system, eGreen seeks to help monitor all parts of the item production supply chain so that consumers know what impact they have on the environment when they buy particular goods. Using RFID tags, a special rating system developed by the eGreen team and web servers and other real world technologies, the system makes people aware of the full extent of the environmental impact of the products they plan to purchase.

Team Three – IWork

IWork is short for Instant Work, and is a system developed by this Canberra-based team to help job seekers find work easily and quickly with very little expenditure, addressing the need around the world of low income people who often need work in very short timeframes. This innovative solution integrates multiple technologies to help people take advantage of new access to things like internet access.

Team Four – Xtreme

Team Xtreme have developed the Fire Location and Managing Environment (FLAME) as a web-driven application that tackles a local issue that extends to the global scape where, worldwide, bushland hazard reduction management needs to be improved. Their solution uses a number of technologies to ease management of bushfires and other bushland issues and used real world situations and collaboration with local fire departments to ensure they met the actual needs found in today’s society.

Team Five – Firefighters

Our second Sydney team, and our second bushfire management system is perhaps unsurprising given the huge risks faced each year in bushfire season in Sydney’s surrounds and particularly in light of the tragedies that occurred earlier this year, it’s actually a great outcome that Imagine Cup enables students to tackle real issues that face can us quite personally.

As I have previously posted, the finals will be held at the North Ryde office of Microsoft Australia and are open to the public to attend – but it’s essential you register so we can make sure you fit in. Also, by registering, you’ll go into the draw to win lucky door prizes (like a Xbox 360 console), so don’t miss out on your own chance to win.

This is your last chance to come along – seats are running out so act now. Send an email to ausic@microsoft.com with your name, phone number and how many people you’re registering for if you’re intending to bring others with you.

The event starts at 6pm, Wednesday 27 May at:

1 Epping Road

North Ryde NSW 2113

I hope to see you there!

Imagine Cup Local Finals – Register your attendance today!

AndrewParsons — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:49:47 GMT

COOL! We’re on the final approach for Imagine Cup 2009 and I’m happy to announce that we’ll be holding the local finals for Australia on the evening of the May 27th.

The top teams who have entered the Software Design category go head to head with some incredibly creative and innovative ideas on how to make our world, and our country, a better place.

This year, the finals are open to the public although seats are limited. Come and see the competitors present their solutions to a panel of judges from the industry, media, academia and Microsoft and find out who will be going to Cairo, Egypt to represent Australia at the worldwide finals.

This is a great opportunity for students, teachers and faculty to see why we are so keen about Imagine Cup and how it can help make a difference through technology.

The details:

Date: 27 May 2009
Time: 6:00pm start, finishing approximately 9:00pm
Where: Microsoft Australia office
1 Epping Road
North Ryde, NSW 2113
Cost: Free to attend

To ensure you’ve got a place, send an email to Australian Imagine Cup with your name, contact phone number in case of emergencies and how many people you’re registering for, if you’re bringing more than just yourself. Note that if you do not register, you may not be admitted to the event if we’re oversubscribed, so don’t miss out.

Hey, I almost forgot, for those who register, you might even get a chance to win some cool lucky door prizes.

Podcast: Imagine Cup

AndrewParsons — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:58:13 GMT

Imagine Cup is the world’s biggest technology competition for students and you can be a part of it. Check out this week’s podcast which is all about Imagine Cup, including an interview with David Burela, one of the winners of this year’s Imagine Cup. Get to the article directly: MICROSOFT - Imagine Cup

The full podcast feed is available at: My Microsoft Podcast Feed