Imagine Cup Australia : software design

Finding Imagine Cup teammates through Facebook

ausic — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:15:00 GMT

Imagine Cup is the world's premier technology competition just for university students - unless you've just discovered my blog, you would probably know that already, because I have been banging on incessantly about it like a man obsessed for a couple of months now :D

I've had a whole bunch of emails from people who are having major difficulty in finding teammates for the Software Design and XNA Games categories of Imagine Cup. I've been able to link a few people together, but it's actually quite hard to take complete strangers and try to get them to work on a project together over email alone. As such, I've set up a facebook group so you can find others in your area who might also be looking for teammates and try to form teams. I'd do it on the Australian forums at http://imaginecup.com, but those forums have not been particularly widely used and I know for sure most of you guys are on facebook from Mix ON Campus. This will also hopefully be a good icebreaker so you can meet face to face when we have Imagine Cup launch events later this month / early next month (rest assured they are still happening, I just got sick at the end of last year and had to take some time out).

The group can be found at http://anuedu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8218863382. My only condition is that this is for Australian entrants only. It's open for anyone to join.

By the way, for those entering the Software Design category, if you submit your project proposal before 10th January, you receive a Microsoft promotional prize pack to reward starting work on your project early. More details can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/australia/imaginecup/sd_tandc.aspx. You can submit the project proposal here.

Australian Imagine CUp website is now Live...

ausic — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:06:00 GMT

Yes, the Australian Imagine Cup website is now live, and it looks AWESOME! I worked with Wunderman on this (they also did the Imagine Cup flyers that you plant and grow a tree out of) and I am very happy with the work they've done. Check it out.

The other big news to note is this - Australian Software Design category deadlines are up on this webpage. This is important if you're entering Software Design this year, becaue the new website is the only place where you'll be able to access this information (plus information about the prizes you can win). If you're entering the SD category, you've also got a chance to win a whole bunch of smaller prizes (like t-shirts and promotional prize packs) if you submit progress reports of your entry along the way. Software Design category is alot of hard work, and this is an attempt to reward students who are taking a well-planned, well-considered approach to building their entry rather than leaving it to the last minute.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A TEAM MATE FOR IMAGINE CUP? Alot of people have been asking me about the launch parties so that they can come along and try to meet ome people from their area who they can form a team with. Well, the launch parties will be early in the new year (mid Jan), but in the meantime, if you are looking for an extra one or two teammates, drop me a line.

(By the way, has anyone ever noticed that when your are trying to type 'Imagine Cup', You always have to go back and change the 'U' to a 'u'? i.e. you always type Imagine CUp? Or is that just me? And did you just read this and go and open a notepad window and type 'Imagine CUp' to see if you did the same thing? If you did, I applaud your inquisitive nature :D)

Word's out - Aussie Imagine Cup entrants win jobs with Readify

ausic — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:34:00 GMT

BIG news for IMagine Cup 2008 - Software Design category entrants in Australia can actually win a job... :D

Readify are Australia's top .NET developer firm. They are also into giving back to the tech community in a BIG way - first came the Readify Developer nights (go along and check one out - they're free!) and now they've come on board as official sponsors of Imagine Cup. Now, we could get Readify to throw some cash at us and buy more prizes for IC, but after discussing it with Readify, we decided we could deliver much more value if we helped IC entrants build skills and get a job.

For those who have just signed up for Imagine Cup, there's 9 ways to enter, but Software Design is always the biggest. In fact, it's so big it is the only category where we have to have local Australian finals to screen entries before the world finals - that means another round of competition that SD category entrants have to go in. Here's the deal - Readify are hiring the first, second and third place teams in the software design category for 2-3 month contracts in their developer centre. That means (A) you get access to some of the expertise of some of the best developers in Australia and (B) give your resume a MASSIVE boost by having Readify's name on it (and who knows, you might even get a fulltime gig if you're good ;D). Many thanks to Readify for this - it's a great opportunity for Imagine CUp entrants.

So that makes the final prize pool for the local Software Design category as follows:

1st - Trip to France, 3 months paid work alpcement with Readify, share in $1000 cash

2nd - 2 Months paid work placement with Readify, Xbox 360 for each students team member, share in $500 cash

3rd - 2 months paid work placement with Readify and a HTC Touch Windows Mobile device valued at AU$699 for each team member

4th and 5th - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Office Ultimate for each team member (est. value ~AU$2000)

And then there's the other 9 categories...

By the way, the new 2008 Imagine Cup Australia website will be up very soon - the mockups I've seen look great, so make sure you keep coming back to check out how the entire competition will go down when the site goes live

Oh, and one last thing, there's a launch party for Imagine Cup Australia 2008 coming up this Christmas break - it's going to be a great chance to come, meet other entrants, do some fun activities, find that elusive 2nd/3rd/4th teammate to join up the Software Design or Games Dev competition with, get a free feed (and free drinks, importantly) and just generally get happy. Make sure you're signed up, and make sure your mates are too, otherwise you don't get an invite. Watch this space for more details.

Imagine Cup 2008 site goes live

ausic — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:30:00 GMT

'Allo Frenchie! The site for Imagine Cup 2008 to be held in Paris is now up at www.imaginecup.com. You can't register or access the forums yet, but you can read all about the theme for next year (sustainability), and most importantly, read about the new XBOX 360 GAMES DEVELOPMENT CATEGORY!!! Whilst the web development category has sadly been axed for Paris, I know alot of casual games developers out there who'll be thrilled with the addition of a games category they can compete in.

If you listen to one thing I say all year, it's GET STARTED ON YOUR IMAGINE CUP 2008 ENTRIES NOW! It's amazing how quick time slips away, and the best entries are the one's who have had time to thoroughly think a problem through and talk to a number of different parties before even starting development, so to increase your chances of making it to the Aussie finals (and maybe the world finals) next year, start thinking about your project now.

Thailand - winner of 2007 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals

ausic — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:57:00 GMT

The world finals are done for another year! Congratulations to the entry from Thailand, this year's winner. The Thai team combined an enigmatic presentation style with a slick WPF interface to form an entry that aims to combat illiteracy. "Lifebook" is a classic example of a simple idea with impeccable execution. Users need a webcam to capture text, digitize it with OCR, then learn to read by (A) bringing up pictures of certain keywords in the text that the app recognises and (B) reading the text itself out to users. The app can also forseeably have value in the teaching of foreign languages, as it has mulit-language capability. Whilst the solution itself may not be a typical example of the high complexity many of the other entries had, it was a great example of good user interface and simplicity personified. Well Done, Thailand!

Shooting a bright screen in a dark hall is tricky! Thailand's winning entry.

Second place getters Korea built a very impressive embedded device using gloves that help blind deaf people communicate. Deaf Blind people communicate using “fingerbraille”, which involves touching other people’s fingers in certain patterns and places to convey alphabet letters. The Korean team developed a way for blind deaf people to communicate remotely, by developing gloves that (A) read movements in a persons hand to read what they are trying to convey in finger brail and (B) transmit this same message to a remote user, who may also be blind deaf, via vibrations on the top of the gloves and though the use of an MSN like chat tool. This means you no longer need to be in the same physical location as another person to use finger brail. Seeing the user accceptance testing videos of an actual blind deaf person using it to chat online was touching and amazing.

The Korean entry, 'Finger Code'

Jamaica's entry rounded out the top 3. “CADI” is a virtual learning environment, allowing people from different coutries who speak different lanaguages to use the same course materials. Effectively, this means language is no longer a barrier to education, since content can be shared and instant messages exchanged between people from different countries and speaking different languages. These guys seemed to be the people's sentimental champs, with loud cheers and cameras flashing everytime they took the stage.

The Jamaican team, 'CADI'

On another note, I need to say a massive congratulations to the Australia team from University of Canberra for this year. I think that their entry was technically more advanced than many of the entries that made it through to the final 6, and I think that showing of an interface for blind people to judges who have full vision is a very difficult task. the work they have done in user acceptance and in maximising usability for blind people will make a diffference to blind people's lives and enable them to have more job opportunities than they currently do, so I congratulate them on their decision to give their entry to Vision Australia when they finish development.

On another note, thanks to everyone who ended up coming along to Imagine Cup. Hopefully you all came away feeling, like me, that this was one of the best times of your life. It was great to meet so many people with interesting ideas and personalities (and also very surpising to see how much of an international readership this blog has - I didn't realise anyone outside of Australia was reading). The Korean MSPs in particular need to be thanked, because they did an amazing job and made everyone feel so special and welcomed.

Wrap up - Day 2 of World Finals

ausic — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:35:00 GMT

The second day of proceedings saw actual competition begin. The day went like this - 55 teams are put in an exhibition hall, where they each get a booth to set up their entries and show them off to attendees and the media. They are then chosen one by one to present to one of four panels of judges in a private room (and will repeat the same tomorrow). This makes it very interesting to see some of the dynamics in the room. Whilst a few teams were obviously being very guarded about their entries, most students and their mentors were really interested in what other teams were doing and in showing off their own entries. The second day of proceedings saw actual competition begin. The day went like this - 55 teams are put in an exhibition hall, where they each get a booth to set up their entries and show them off to attendees and the media. They are then chosen one by one to present to one of four panels of judges in a private room (and will repeat the same tomorrow). This makes it very interesting to see some of the dynamics in the room. Whilst a few teams were obviously being very guarded about their entries, most students and their mentors were really interested in what other teams were doing and in showing off their own entries.

1. Got Tech? Techno Mart has 2000 stalls, including 3 levels dedicated almost exclusively to cameras and mp3 players. If you look really closely at the bottom of the screen, you can see two go-go dancers dancing out the front and trying to get customers to come in. Wow.

One thing I didn't realise about the Imagine Cup world finals is that there is a hidden, unofficial category called 'Pimp My Booth'. Whilst there is the odd hand drawn poster (obviously caught out by the same lack of prior knowledge about booth battles as I was), on the whole people were going to alot of trouble to trick their booths out. But I have to say, the Aussie team did make the largest impression with their blind kangaroo mascot! He was by far the most popular guy there! I wonder how many blog posts will he pop up in?

2. & 3. The Aussie Booth at various times during the day

Talking to a few teams about their entries, there were a few comon themes. Primarily, entries either a) made education more accessible through mobile devices / web servers / automation or b) aimed to help blind people or c) just downright looked cool. There were alot of very interesting entries, and honestly, I couldn't pick a winner from the ones I saw. Great quality. Here's a quick sample:

4. Bright background plus dark foreground equals bad photo. It's always amazing to see entries that already look set to go to market. Austria developed some apps for SmartBoard type devices that had everyone stopping at their booth to ask questions. The most interesting thing about it was it's highly unique user interface - you get an artist's 'palate' which you hold in your hand and is your key to a large variety of different commands and functions. You tap the stylus on diferent parts of the palate to activate different functions. Looking part Surface, part education tool, I think this thing has much broader applications than just education. Using more than one stylus, you can collaboratively work on the same workspace, and it reminds me a little bit of the WaCom graphics tablets that are running Expression, so I think designers and engineers are going to be all over this thing.

5. Romania's entry - "Knowledge Sense" - claims to be a modern version of the encyclopedia. Using natural language queries and an intuitive, interactive interface, users can reportedly ask the app just about any question you can think of. I wanted to ask it how to get my towels extra soft when I wash them, but I didn't get a chance to try it out.

6. I'm a very visual person plus I like gadgets, so alot of the entries that wowed me the most were the ones that integrated hardware and software. The Pakistan team invented a system for multi-point video recording of lectures. Their system automatically moves the camera to track a lecturer as they move around the room. Once the session is finished, the system automatically does a quick edit of the lecture, then uploads it to a web server, and sends alerts out to users that new content has been added. Another cool feature is that they have used directional microphones that can detect which general side of the room a question is coming from if a student asks questions a question during the lecture since, as the team points out, the learning experience is not all about the lecturer.

7. I also had a quick look at the Embedded Design category, but the day's proceedings had finished by the time I got there. But I did snap the odd photo (and I do mean odd - like extreme net surfing requiring a bike helmet ;) ) of a few entries there and in the Interface Design category.... I'll get some photos up in my next post of some of the better entries.

The Australian team presented last to a panel of (I think) very tired judges. I wasn't allowed to take photos during the presentation as per the contest rules, but the team did very well. As you might recall, they have developed a tool for helping blind people program. So for me, the coolest part of the presentation was when they cover the screen and do some cding on the fly. Phil, who was driving the demo, even made a mistake, with a button overlaping a field in a simple logon form, but was able to rectify it without looking at the screen, which is a tribute to the usability of this app.

Finally, dinner was crazy - 800 odd software designers in a room getting their grub on! In a big hall in the SHeraton with chefs in tall hats buzzing in and out of the crod wih plates of hot food. My photos don't justice to just how cool and impressive a job the event organisers have done and how rad a place Korea is. Went to the W-Hotel lobby for a quick drink (geez thats a swank place) then hit the sack around 1am for a 6am start.

I also had a quick look at the Embedded Design category, but the day's proceedings had finished by the time I got there. But I did snap the odd photo (and I do mean odd - see below) of a few entries.... I'll get some photos up in my next post of some of the better entries.

First day of the Finals - or at least the 3 hours we saw of it.

ausic — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:57:00 GMT

The world finals began today in Korea and already the team from UC have lost some members. Nothing like a hapless airline to break a team apart. Due to massive incompetence on behalf of Australia's major airline (I'm as subtle as a sledgehammer), the team got split up at Sydney airport. So some of us are already here, whilst others are still in transit or in Sydney. Luckily there was no competition today. But thats a whole other complaint letter!

1&2. Microsoft know how to throw a party, yep yep! The hotel where Imagine Cup is being held.

We're here, and this is one of the coolest sights I've ever seen. 2 WHOLE HOTELS BOOKED OUT FULL OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPER STUDENTS. Yeh, 2 hotels. And I'm not talking Formule1 either - Sheraton and W Hotel ain't no joke. There's full size bottles of Chivas Regal and Remi Martin in the minibar for chrissakes!

It's amazing the amount of stuff thats going on as I walk through the hotels. From the chill out lounge with the fully stocked fridge full of free coke / ice tea / water / lolly water and 6 player xbox360 to the sheer size of the main hall, I think this could be the most excited I've been about anything since Jay-Z announced his retirement (language warning on that last link). If you are a software design / computing science student thinking of joining Imagine CUp next year, DO IT! I'm so stoked on IC right now and everyone is having so much fun! And the realy interesting stuff hasn't even started yet.

Tomorrow sees the kick off of the actual competition, which is probably what most of the reaaders of this blog would be interested in. Participants will then be culled from around 55 teams to the final 12. Then we have a day's sightseeing on Wednesday (topped of by dinner with the mayor of Seoul and lunch at the Seoul Olympics Gym). The final 12 teams duke it out further on the Thursday, then we wrap things up on Friday with a party! Heck yeh! Well deserved too to the students. There's some good work here this year.

Anyways, I could type all night I'm so excited but I had better pack this one in here - I have to go and organise a ride for the other team members from Incheon airport to the hotel due to our planned flights being overbooked. Thanks QANTAS!

University of Canberra are going to the Imagine Cup world finals - again.

ausic — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Get ready - this one's a long one.

For the second year running, the University of Canberra (UC) has taken out the Australian Imagine Cup finals. Special mention must be made of the efforts that the uni's School of Information Sciences and Engineering faculty members (in particular Dr. Dat Tran and Dr. Dhamendra Sharma) put into supporting those teams that enter the Imagine Cup each year (2 teams from UC made it into the Oz finals this year). UC has a very strong focus on the student experience, which is fantastic to see. Also in attendance was a team from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), mentored by Dr. On Wong (who is one of the friendliest guys I've ever met and who educated me on exactly what it is that makes tall people tall). It was great to meet you all and shoot the breeze, aswell as see your entries this year.

"Team APA" took out proceedings this year with an entry that got the developers in the audience jumping out of their seats in excitement. Charles Sterling (Microsoft Developer Evangelist and Imagine Cup judge) virtually skipped out of the room after judging their entry. OK, maybe not, but it was an exciting entry. 'APA' is a tool for helping blind people develop in C#.NET. No easy task by any stretch of the Imagination.

Team APA were not clear cut winners though (despite how good their entry was) - after all teams had presented and as the judges were discussing a winner, I really had no idea who would take out the Australian finals and go on to compete for glory (and a share in AU$40k) at the world finals in Korea. We had three very distinctive entries compete in the Australian finals this year, and each had their own unique strengths (wow, I sound like I'm trying to build self-esteem in Kindergarten kids - "you are all special in your own way"). In all seriousness, judging was TIGHT! Having long ago turned away from the good side (geeky techy stuff) and gravitating more towards the dark side (the business side of things) I was focused more on which entries had more commercial viability, so if I was a judge, I would have chosen 'Smart Education' (UC) or 'Question & Answer Technology' (QUT) (more details on these entries found here). But thats why I'm not a judge. Team APA stuck with the Imagine Cup ethos - Imagine Cup is all about imagining a better world, and when there is 70% unemployment and incredible hardship amongst blind people, empowering blind people to become programmers is an extremely worthwhile aim.

After the dust had settled and the winners had been announced at the start of the final panel at ReMix07 (which was, by the way, deadset fabtabulous), the entrants and a motley crew of other Microsoft and Imagine Cup dignitaries went and chilled in Tonic Bar at Crown Promenade before their stretched limo's (yep, thats how we do it with the Imagine Cup) arrived to pick the entrants up and take them back to the airport. I know some of the students were a bit disappointed they wouldn't go to Korea, but please guys, take heart in knowing you are the top university software programmers in Australia, which is a great effort.

Finally, I need to thank the judges. Tony Sarno, editor of APC magazine, volunteered to join the judging panel and his account of the finals is an interesting read. He gave alot of support to Imagine Cup this year, and his help is much appreciated.

I'd also like to make a very special mention of Mr Tony Lupton, Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation and local member for Prahran (Victoria). Mr Lupton made time in his (very) busy schedule to come and act as a judge, which is a great indication of his support for his portfolio and his desire to support ongoing innovation through education. His presence was much appreciated and added considerable value to proceedings.

To the lads - Coatesy (Andrew Coates) and Chuck (Charles Sterling), both Microsoft developer evangelists - thanks for jumping at the chance to be judges this year. Great to see such enthusiastic support for students and the Imagine Cup from within the Microsoft organisation, especially when developer evangelists have so many commitments and responsibilities.

And finally Shahed Khan, pro developer and Microsoft most valued professional. Shahed jumped on board at the very start of Imagine Cup 07 wanting to mentor a team. We didn't have a team in the area he lives, but his enthusiasm was such that I knew we'd have to make him a judge. Thanks Shahed.

Thanks to all involved - photos have been delayed but will soon follow (I loaned my camera to our PR team yesterday afternoon), and next year's theme will be announced soon (you'll know about it all the sooner if you subscribe - http://blogs.msdn.com/ausic/rss.xml) so you can get an early jump on proceedings. If you're a tertiary student and are interested in entering next year, keep an eye out for an IC launch in a uni near you in second semester this year, check out www.imaginecup.com for worldwide details, subscribe to this blog or email me t-nice@microsoft.com.

Nick

Australian Imagine Cup Finalists announced

ausic — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:43:00 GMT

The three top teams for this year's national software design finals in late June have been decided. In the interest of ensuring hot competition in Melbourne, I won't go into the finer details of their entries, but the finalists are:

"The Intelligent Gorillas" (Queensland University of Technology) - developed an application for peer-based learning and discussion using a Powerpoint presentation as a starting point for something that becomes so much more.

"Team APA" (University of Canberra) - developed a tool to help blind people program in C#.NET

"Smart Education" (University of Canberra) - think WebCT mashed up with Facebook, giving a very 'now' solution to student problems.

There was a cluster of exciting, high quality entries in this year's competition, making choosing a shortlist pretty tough. Unfortunately, only 3 teams can proceed to the finals. There's still the People's Choice Awards coming up in late June for the best national entrants, so watch this space - if you've missed out on making the national finals, you're still in the running to take out people's choice!