Eighty-six hard-working teams of young developers have a date in St. Petersburg, Russia in July to compete in the 11th annual Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in pursuit of $1,000,000 in cash prizes and other awards.
Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier technology program and competition for students to learn, build and compete using innovative tools, platforms and services.
“For more than a decade, Imagine Cup has cultivated entrepreneurship in students and has provided them with a vehicle to bring their creativity to life through apps, software platforms and social networks,” said Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president and chief evangelist at Microsoft. “Participating in initiatives such as Imagine Cup, DreamSpark and BizSpark gives students skills to transition from the classroom to the professional world as business owners, programmers, game designers and entrepreneurs.”
This year, Imagine Cup has judges representing both a breadth of experience and a depth of expertise in innovation, technology development, gaming and other key areas. Those coming to Russia to judge the final projects include Catherine Bracy from Code for America; Simon Lu from Twitter; Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of “Tetris”; and many others. A full list of all judges is available on the Imagine Cup website.
The Worldwide Finals awards ceremony will be streamed live online worldwide July 11. Head on over to the Microsoft News Center to get the full story and see a slideshow profiling some of the teams headed to St. Petersburg.
One of those teams is Team Code 8 (pictured above left), which developed a Windows Phone application that diagnoses malaria without the need to stick the body for a blood sample by connecting a matiscope to a Windows Phone or tablet.
Jeff Meisner
Microsoft News Center Staff