Imagine Cup Blog

July 2009 - Posts

• Re-live 2009 Imagine Cup Cairo: A Life Changing Experience for All

  At this year’s Imagine Cup, we saw more than 1,000 students from over 400 teams across the globe apply to compete in the Embedded Development competition. In China alone, 80 teams from 14 universities competed in China’s local Imagine Cup preliminaries. The innovation, the inspiration and the emotional investments that formed the basis of all this year’s projects was just mind-blowing. The challenge: solve some of the toughest problems facing the world today and without exception all the teams broke new ground with their projects and their approach. To do justice to the work – sometimes 12 months of hard work – of the students, we wanted to get to know them and their projects in-depth. Speaking as the Embedded Development captain, in previous competitions we’ve been so focused on the judging that we never really got to properly know the students. This year, the extended Imagine Cup family was able to follow the progress of the Embedded students at every twist and turn thanks to our dedicated and extremely hard-working camera crew. You can see the results of our hard work and get a sense of what it was like to be part of the Imagine Cup, by visiting the following links: · Windows Embedded @ Imagine Cup 09 - Day One · Windows Embedded @ Imagine Cup 2009 - Day Two · Windows Embedded @ Imagine Cup 2009 - Day Three · Windows Embedded @ Imagine Cup 2009 - Day Four · Windows Embedded @ Imagine Cup 09 - Day Five and Closing Ceremony From arrival to the moment when the winners were announced, we lived their Imagine Cup journeys. And we got to know them quite well too. We learned that Yoonji Shin, a 21 year old from South Korea, was leading her team, Wafree, in a passionate and some might say, idealistic, attempt to bring an end to starvation by building an embedded solution for breeding beetles in a controlled environment. We also talked with Xiudong Tang and Xuan Zhang from Chinese team iSee, who developed a solution that brings the power of the internet to the blind: people who are some of the most information poor in our society. Their motivation came from a moving visit to a school for the blind. They learned how isolated and alone the kids felt and they believed in the power of technology to help transform lives. Other teams like AST from Turkey identified a problem at the heart of world food production; and created a dream team of specialists to solve it. With one IT guy surrounded by agricultural engineers, it was inevitable that they would address a really difficult but important problem: developing a fully-automated, self managed, low-cost seeding machine which makes precision farming affordable for the masses. Other teams wanted to solve major world health problems. Juan Pablo from Mexico told us how he wanted to build a health system that could provide better remote healthcare to those rural areas, after his grandmother died of complications relating to her inability to receive treatment for her arthritis. His team created Project Hygea, a telemedicine device that makes it possible for a greater number of patients to access electrotherapy. These projects were brought to life by embedded technology. Students were given the X86-based DM&P/ICOP eBox-4300, running Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 and Visual Studio, a suite of software development tools. This combination of hardware and software means that the students are actually enabled to build a fully operational working prototype of a device that could even be ready to take to market when the competition finishes. Often the students are so inspired by the Imagine Cup experience, whether they win or lose, that they go on to commercialize the technology and make their projects a reality. This year’s first place Embedded Development winners, Wafree, have already won seed funding from a humanitarian group and are determined to take their solution to Africa. The road to Cairo was different for everyone. But one thing that was true and clear to us all was that each journey was moving, personal and life changing. The students would never be the same again. From the Egyptian team that had never been to the Pyramids (because they’d just never found the time), to the UK team who wanted to change the way we all engage with technology in our homes, it gave the Microsoft team pause for reflection on just how relevant technology – and particularly embedded technology with its blend of hardware and software – has the power to change lives around the world. The competition might be over for another year, but the students’ work and dreams carry on. I hope they never lose the passion that they demonstrated during those few short days in Egypt that we all shared. Here are some final thoughts, from the awesome closing ceremony at the pyramids in Egypt… Here’s to Poland 2010! -- Scott Davis, Windows Embedded, Microsoft Posted Jul 19 2009, 01:43 AM by editor with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Imagine Cup, Poland, Embedded Development, Worldwide Finals, China, korea, Cairo

• Imagine Cup 2010 … POLAND!

  As the general manager for Poland, the country which will be hosting the Worldwide Finals for Imagine Cup in 2010, it was with interest that I attended the event in Egypt this year. Imagine Cup is an absolutely unique global competition which gathers young and talented enthusiasts of technology together to present their many fantastic projects and applications of technology.  Many of these are not only very innovative and carry commercial value but they also address actual social problems today. I do believe that these students are the leaders of the future. I am also amazed at the energy of this event. Cairo, with all the talent and inspiration represented during the event, is truly a bright spot. I simply cannot wait until the next year, when Poland will host world final. We feel very privileged and honored to have an opportunity to host Imagine Cup finalists next July in Warsaw. But before we reach Imagine Cup 2010 with finals in Poland, I want to capture the excitement in the run-up to the finals being announced (I was of course keeping my fingers crossed for all the finalists but particularly, and no surprise, for the students from Poland).  Nonetheless, I wish to congratulate all the teams who participated in the Worldwide Finals of the seventh edition of Imagine Cup. I know how big an effort they made in order to qualify to these finals in Egypt. In my mind, for this alone, they are all winners! See you in 2010 in Warsaw! Jacek Murawski, General Manager, Microsoft Poland Posted Jul 10 2009, 02:19 PM by editor with no comments

• MSPs and Volunteers Made the Imagine Cup a SUCCESS!

  This group of young people made the Imagine Cup in Egypt an incredible experience for all in attendance. Samer Chidiac created this video for each of them. Enjoy.    . Posted Jul 08 2009, 11:38 AM by editor with no comments

• McNeill Walks Away with Second Place, $10,000 and a Pocketful of Memories

  E McNeill was called up on stage one last time at the Imagine Cup, with the Great Pyramids looming in front of him as he walked up to receive his award – a second place finish in the worldwide Imagine Cup’s Game Development finals. His educational game, Alternex, had impressed the judges enough to say his game was second best among all those submitted. Taking home $10,000 for second place isn’t bad, especially because he doesn’t have to share it. “It’s pretty crazy,” McNeill said. “Of course, I was never in it for the money.” He said he still hasn’t gotten around to realizing that he actually made it to the finals, much less finished second. “I just couldn’t stop smiling,”  said McNeill, a student at Dartmouth College in the United States’ New Hampshire. “I physically could not stop – my cheeks hurt.” The Imagine Cup team has been following E, a team of one, throughout the Imagine Cup. Hope you enjoyed getting to know him. Check out his game, called Alternex, and everything else about him here. Posted Jul 08 2009, 12:01 AM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, United States, Egypt, Game Development, Game and Development

• A World Festival to Remember!

  While the sun was setting over the majestic landscape of this ancient land, all the 2009 Imagine Cup competitors were on their way to the Worldwide Festival to learn who would be crowned the winners of the 2009 Imagine Cup. Built in the middle of the Egyptian desert, the stage overlooks the three Pyramids, a fitting backdrop to display the accomplishments of the brightest students in the world. The world was watching. All competitors had been thinking about this event, the culmination of a year’s work. They had passed through Round 1 and 2. They had traveled to Cairo and competed against the best in the world. For some, their fate was already determined. But for others, there was still a possibility that their dream would be realized. The students were seated. What would happen? The lights dimmed and the event officially started. Traditional Egyptian dancers surrounded the stage, a perfect accent to the Great Pyramids lighted in the background. Joe Wilson kicked things off, mentioning that the purpose of this event was to celebrate the achievements of the competitors. “Nobody is a loser here,” he said. Wilson was followed by an impressive array of presenters including General Manager Jon Perera, Corporate Vice President Walid Abu-Hadba, and Corporate Vice President Michael Golden. One by one the awards were announced, eradicating any doubts and solidifying the winners. This is a stressful time for any hopeful competitor. Finally, we arrived at the Software Design category. This is the “crown jewel” of the Imagine Cup. Suspense was building as the second and third place winners were announced. The world waited. With the Great Pyramids lit up in lights behind him, Adrian Buzgar from Romania was at a loss for words. His team SYTECH had just won the Imagine Cup’s coveted software design competition, and it was up to him to put it in perspective. “There are absolutely no words to describe what we’re feeling right now,” Buzgar told the crowd moments after hearing his team won the award. “Thank you everyone.” The team from Romania built UpCity, a software program that connects citizens and government agencies by getting people from both sides involved at the grassroots level. Their software platform is about to be used in Iasi, Romania, the team’s home city, and they hope to deploy in other cities soon after that. “The project will be developed for the city hall of our city at the end of this month,” Buzgar said. “Then we’re going to try to build a company.” The 2009 Imagine Cup is over. But through all the grandeur of the event, there still lies a bit of sadness. All involved with the Imagine Cup have looked forward to the culmination of the event they have been working towards for so long, but also must come to terms with the fact that it is coming to a close. As one student put it, “I am excited to see the World Festival, but am sad because it means all of this is over.” In his closing speech Wilson told them that the end of their time at Imagine Cup is not the end, and he urged them to network, to talk, to email, even to call each other, as old fashion as that might be. “This actually is only the beginning,” he said. “This is an opportunity that has been put in your hands. What matters now is what you do with it. You are the greatness of our future.” The next stop is Poland, and it is only a year away. - Matt Bernardy Note – Photos contributed by Microsoft’s own Scott Blackwell. Thanks for the pictures Scott! Posted Jul 07 2009, 11:16 PM by editor with 2 comment(s)

• Official Press Release: 2009 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals Winners

  Students address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals with innovative technology. CAIRO, Egypt — July 7, 2009 — After an intense competition among finalists chosen from a pool of more than 300,000 students from more than 100 countries and regions, Microsoft Corp. announced the winners of Imagine Cup 2009. Celebrating first place, Romania’s Team SYTECH won the worldwide Software Design invitational, South Korea’s Team Wafree won the Embedded Development invitational and Brazil’s Team LEVV It won the Game Development challenge. Imagine Cup, the world’s premier student technology competition, empowers students to unlock their creative genius and build solutions that tackle real-world issues facing society today. “The creativity and imagination that students poured into their projects this year was incredible,” said Joe Wilson, senior director of Academic Initiatives, Developer & Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft. “Many of these projects have the potential to have a serious impact on how we address society’s most pressing issues. We hope that all of the students who participated this year will continue their pursuit of creating technology in the service of making the world a better place.” The software design, embedded development and game development finalist teams created applications, devices and games using Microsoft technology based on this year’s theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today.” A total of 444 students from 149 teams representing 70 countries and regions competed in the Imagine Cup 2009 Worldwide Finals in nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, IT Challenge, Robotics and Algorithm, MashUp, Photography, Short Film and Design. In addition to the main categories of competition, there are several Achievement Awards this year: the Interoperability Award, Unlimited Potential Design for Development Award, Unlimited Potential MultiPoint Education Award, Accessibility Award, Accessible Design Award, Parallel Computing Award, Tablet Accessibility Award, Live Services Award, Windows Mobile Award, and the H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak Special Award, sponsored by the first lady of Egypt through the Cyber Peace Initiative (CPI). The winners were announced in a gala awards ceremony this evening at the base of Egypt’s historic pyramids as part of the Imagine Cup World Festival, a celebration drawing Imagine Cup competitors, mentors and other key attendees from around the world. The following are the top three finalists by invitational in finishing order: · Software Design – First Place: Romania — SYTECH – Second Place: Russia — Vital Lab – Third Place: Brazil — Virtual Dreams · Embedded Development – First Place: South Korea — Wafree – Second Place: China — iSee – Third Place: Ukraine — Intellectronics · Game Development – First Place: Brazil — LEVV It – Second Place: United States — Epsylon Games – Third Place: United Kingdom — Sanquine Labs · Robotics and Algorithm – First Place: Czech Republic — Lukáš Perůtka – Second Place: Canada — Byron Knoll – Third Place: China — Lin Fuming · IT Challenge – First Place: Romania — Cosmin Ilie – Second Place: China — Wu Chang – Third Place: Bolivia — Miklos Cari Sivila · MashUp – First Place: United States — CURIOUS – Second Place (tie): Poland — Monastery of Innovations – Second Place (tie): Singapore — PlanetKY · Photography – First Place: Croatia —Voodoo Delirium – Second Place: Singapore — Woolgathering – Third Place: Japan — Terada · Short Film – First Place: United Kingdom — Fulham Four – Second Place: India — ChennaiCoolers – Third Place: Ukraine — Just4Fun · Design – First Place: Brazil — Willburn – Second Place: United States — eXchangeFun – Third Place: France — Paindepices In addition to the category awards, 10 Achievement Awards were presented. · Interoperability Award. The Interoperability Award is designed to recognize the software application that best leverages out-of-the-box Microsoft technologies and blends them with other technologies to connect people, data or diverse systems in a new way. This award was won by: – First Place: Brazil — Proativa Team – Second Place: Poland — Fteams – Third Place: Jordan — ECRAM · Unlimited Potential Design for Development Award. This award challenges students to create a software solution that can be accessed from a basic mobile phone and designed to meet the needs of end users who earn less than $8 (U.S.) a day. This award was won by: – First Place: Malaysia — COSMIC – Second Place: China — Unique Studio – Third Place: Malaysia — Capricorn · Unlimited Potential MultiPoint Education Award. This award encourages students to unlock new ways for the PC to help address universal education goals. This award was won by: – First Place: India — Trailblazers · Accessibility Award. Students are challenged to design a technology solution that leverages people’s diverse physical and cognitive abilities. This award was won by: – First Place: Saudi Arabia — ATST – Second Place: Mexico — Ignis Nova · Accessible Design Award: Students who participated in the Design competition were awarded additional recognition for a technology solution that best addressed accessibility needs. This award was won by: – First Place: United States — eXchangeFun · Parallel Computing Award. Parallel applications can open a door to the future, and this award challenges students to use parallel technology to solve the world’s toughest problems. This award was won by: – First Place: India — Biollel · Tablet Accessibility Award. The objective of the Tablet Accessibility Award is to create a new education application that uses Tablet technology while expanding the possibilities for how a user interacts with the computer. This award was won by: - First Place: United States — Auratech - Second Place: Brazil — IC-UNICAMP · Live Services Award: This award challenges students to create a technology solution built on Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform to solve the world’s toughest problems. This award was won by: - First Place: France — Help’Aged - Second Place: Serbia — BrainWave · Windows Mobile Award: This award challenges students to use Windows Mobile technology to solve the world’s toughest problems. This award was won by: - First Place (tie): Croatia — Team Explorer - First Place (tie): Indonesia — Big Bang - First Place (tie): Brazil — Virtual Dreams · H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak Special Award. Sponsored by the first lady of Egypt, this award was given to the project that best intersects the following: the Imagine Cup 2009 theme, “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today”; the Millennium Development Goals; and the objectives of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement and the Cyber Peace Initiative. This award was won by: - First Place: Poland — kAMUflage - Second Place: Egypt — Big Buddy - Third Place: France — WikiChildProtect Next year’s Imagine Cup 2010 Worldwide Finals will take place in Poland, a country with a track record of producing highly skilled IT students as well as successful Imagine Cup entrants. Registrations for Imagine Cup 2010 open tomorrow, July 8, 2009. More information about Imagine Cup can be found at http://www.imaginecup.com. Imagine Cup Sponsors The Imagine Cup is being supported by a range of partner organizations including Paramount Digital Entertainment, Mesh Services & Live Framework, Microsoft Accessibility Business Unit, Microsoft Education Product Group, Microsoft Interoperability, Microsoft Learning, Microsoft Parallel Computing Platform, Microsoft Research External Research, Microsoft Robotics, Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Windows Embedded Business, Windows Mobile and Microsoft XNA Game Platform Group. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. For more information, press only: Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com Posted Jul 07 2009, 10:22 PM by editor with no comments

• How Boldly Do We Dare To Dream?

  Back in 2560 B.C., a group of men ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 strong - guided heavy quarried stones up man-made ramps to form the only remaining wonder of the world: the Khufu Pyramid at Giza. It is only fitting then that tonight we brought each of you talented 2009 Imagine Cup finalists to this exact spot (under a full moon) to celebrate your unique team and individual innovations. Earlier this week, at the Opening Ceremony of the Imagine Cup, Ray Ozzie asked each of us ever so simply: How boldly do you dare to dream? How boldly did the Egyptians dare to dream when they planned and executed the Pyramids at Giza? How boldly did the originators at Microsoft of the Imagine Cup competition dare to dream? They knew the future of technology was in the hands of students so they created something as meaningful and as innovative as Imagine Cup! How boldly did all those involved with putting together the 2009 Imagine Cup in Cairo, Egypt dare to dream - to mold this incredible week in to an unforgettable life experience for each and every one of us? Finally, how boldly did each of YOU dare to dream as you worked so hard - day in and day out - this past year on your solutions to solving the Millennium Development Goals? Each and every one of us is a winner after having shared this magical week together in Cairo.  Earthworms to till organic soil Bug larvae that can become substitute food for very poor countries A game made fun by a Rubik’s cube controller Recycling program that makes it cool to reuse Sleek technology to help kids collaborate from a very young age Outside the box solutions to fighting illiteracy Providing the blind easy access to the internet Home automation that identifies and prevents wasted energy Understanding happiness by a submission portraying the joy of street children in India These are just some of the ideas presented this year at the 2009 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals. YOU are indeed some of the brightest minds on the planet. We are all inspired to dream about accomplishing things bolder than we ever thought we could.  Some may or may not be winners this evening at the World Festival.  Yet YOU are all winners after being here in Cairo, Egypt at the Imagine Cup and showing the world - just a piece - of how boldly you dared to dream.  - Toddy Dyer Posted Jul 07 2009, 07:35 PM by editor with no comments

• Trinity Wants to Bring Sight Back to the Blind

  Half of the world’s blind people could have their vision restored if only there was a surgeon to help them, say the members of Trinity, a team from Ireland that competed in the Imagine Cup’s software design competition. An estimated 45 million people in the world are blind, and 22 million of them can’t see because they have cataracts, said Aidan Lynch, a member of team Trinity. If those cataracts were removed with a simple laser surgery procedure, their eye sight would be restored (they likely would have to wear glasses). “The big thing is there is a shortage of surgeons,” Lynch said. “That is the big problem.” Team Trinity has worked closely with Ireland-based charity Right to Sight to develop a solution. “We’ve created our own surgical simulator,” Lynch said. “It’s quiet a small space that you’ve got to be into perform the surgery safely. It teaches the students to keep in the range.” Students use two handheld devices to guide the lasers that will be used to remove the cataracts. The simulator uses consoles just like those from a video game, and cost about $30 for a pair. A whole kit, including an affordable computer, cost less than $400. The simulator uses simple infrared signals to measure the cataract in all directions. The goal is to make it so one teacher can dramatically increase the number of surgeons he or she can train, not to replace teachers, Lynch said. The aim is for Right to Sight to use the technology to train new surgeons in developing countries, which is where most people living with cataracts live. The founder of Right to Sight came up with the idea of a simple, affordable simulator when she noticed that the handheld lasers used to conduct the surgery are similar to the video game consoles used in video game simulators, Lynch said. The team competed in the highly competitive software design competition, and although it didn’t win, wants to push through and make sure the project gets developed and that Right to Sight can use it to train more surgeons, he said. -Lukas Velush Posted Jul 07 2009, 03:00 PM by editor with no comments

• Design for Development Award - Tonight's the Night!

  Published 07 July 09 04:01 AM | Unlimited Potential team on http://blogs.technet.com/unlimitedpotential The Imagine Cup finalists for the Unlimited Potential Design for Development Award competed in Cairo yesterday. Early feedback suggests that the judges were deeply impressed by all of the creative thinking and passion that went in to the projects, designed to help solve one of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Below you will find a quick overview of the teams that are anxiously awaiting tonight’s Imagine Cup winners announcement. Team Name: Unique Studio, China MDG: Reduce Child Mortality Challenge: In rural clinics, childhood pneumonia can be difficult to diagnose both due to the lack of qualified physicians, as well as its semblance to the common cold. Solution: CoDoc, allows for doctors to remotely diagnose childhood pneumonia using an embedded device which consists of a stethoscope connected to a basic mobile phone. Using the CoDoc embedded device, rural doctors can send auscultation data from patients to remote experts who can make diagnosis and treatment recommendations via an online application. Team Name: development++, Uganda MDG: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Challenge: Currently farmers face a variety of challenges to their crop harvests such as unpredictable weather, low yielding crop varieties, and a dearth of quality agricultural advice. In addition, limited access to external markets and prevailing market prices prevents farmers from attaining the highest price for their crops. Solution: e-Farmer, allows for traders and farmers to buy and sell crops through a SMS based auctioning system. In addition to the agricultural e-marketplace, the e-Farmer system allows for farmers to query weather forecasts, market information, and seek expert advice on day-to-day agricultural questions via SMS. Team Name: COSMIC, Malaysia MDG: Reduce Child Mortality Challenge: Paper-based vaccination records and in-person visits to remind mothers about missed vaccinations is a costly and ineffective system which results in a high number of vaccination defaulters. Solution: Virtual Health Connect, a web based immunization registry which allows for local health workers, doctors, and nurses to manage immunization records and send vaccination reminders to patients via SMS. Along with the reminder service and records management, the Virtual Health Connect system will inform patients of free vaccination campaigns, provide them with educational content about immunizations and allow them to retrieve their immunization records via SMS. Team: Capricorn, Malaysia MDG: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Challenge: Existing communication channels between agricultural cooperatives and farmers rely heavily on loud-speaker announcements and word-of-mouth. As a result, communication of important information between the two parties is costly and does not always reach the intended recipients in time. Solution: GreenEve2Peace, an online and offline application that allows for agricultural cooperatives to broadcast agricultural information and alerts to farmers via SMS. In addition to SMS broadcasts of weather forecasts as well as harvesting and seeding schedules, the GreenEve2Peace system allows farmers to report crop diseases and insect attacks via SMS to the agricultural cooperative so that broader alerts can be issued to nearby farmers. Team Name: pedjoeang, Indonesia MDG: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Challenge: Current Tuberculosis (TB) treatments require patients to take a rigorous 6 month course of treatment in which patients may experience unnerving side-effects. Solution: La Tansa, a Tuberculosis information portal and monitoring system which sends TB patients medication and treatment reminders as well as disease information all via SMS. In addition to reminders, the La Tansa system allows for patients to receive answers to questions about everyday TB-related problems via SMS. Posted Jul 07 2009, 02:53 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Indonesia, Worldwide Finals, Student Profile, China, Awards, Uganda, Malaysia, Design for Development

• UP Judges Love What They See in This Year’s Entries, Winners to be Announced Tonight

  Just hours before the Imagine Cup world champions are announced, the Unlimited Potential judges gathered for a press conference to talk about the strength of this year’s entries into the UP Design for Development award. “We’re very excited by the Unlimited Potential awards,” said Amit Mital, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group. “We’ve seen some fabulous entries.” Mital went onto introduce each of this year’s judges, who each made comments about this year’s competitors. The students are coming up with “eye opening solutions,” said Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a professor in the Indian Institute of Technology’s Department of Electrical Engineering and also a competition judge. He said projects like the one that uses text messaging to make sure parents in rural locations take their children to get vaccinated can make a huge difference if they are implemented. The technology for a lot of the solutions the students have come up with has been around for a while, but one had moved to do anything about it until these student thinkers came along, he said. Posted Jul 07 2009, 02:11 PM by editor with no comments

• Winner of the People’s Choice Award!

  As you all know, the People’s Choice Award has been a blast for the thousands of people that have participated. When we opened the competition up for unlimited voting, the participation skyrocketed to uncharted heights. :) Great work to all those that voted so frequently, we appreciate your ingenuity and cleverness. The Leaderboard is as follows: 1. 5742793 – Monkey Wrench Gang ( Czech Republic ) 2. 5307852 – Big Bang ( Indonesia ) 3. 2323423 – MindPoint ( Bulgaria ) 4. 106541 – NISLab++ ( Japan ) 5. 101109 – Y3K ( UAE/Sharja ) Again, this competition was purely for fun and I am grateful that you all did what you could to make this a success. -Matt Bernardy Posted Jul 07 2009, 02:05 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: People's Choice, Worldwide Finals

• Team WaFree Thinks Outside the Box

  It was tough competition this year for Embedded Development and the judges will definitely have their work cut out for them in deciding who will win tonight at the World Festival. One contender is the Korean team Wafree. Members Yoonji Shin, Kibum Kim, Youngbu Park created a way to tackle one of the United Nation’s toughest problems, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Their project’s goal was to help end world hunger by helping those affected by famine to become self-sufficient through the breeding of insects. Instead of grain farming, insect farming is a more agile practice, not subjected to the limitations of fertile crop lands. However, there is a problem, insects are fragile creatures that are extremely sensitive to environmental changes. What Wafree has done is create an embedded system that will allow users with no experience in breeding insects to use computers in order to make them more effective. Although this may seem like a strange approach to the problem and some may find it difficult to look past the “eww factor” of raising bugs and eating them, there is a sense of true innovation behind this project that has already been gaining traction in Africa. They wrote that one of the highlights of the project was that they created a batch of “cookies with Lucanidae for the children in Gabon and the children loved the Lucanidae cookies and the first batch was gone before they set the basket on the table.” Using the Imagine Cup as means of perfecting their design, the team plans on incorporating the feedback they receive in order to accomplish their ultimate goal – end world hunger. -Matt Bernardy Posted Jul 07 2009, 02:04 PM by editor with 1 comment(s)

• Rookie Riders Take on Egyptian Desert, Greet Pyramids at Sunrise

  Let me preface this story with one comment, I have never ridden a horse before in my life. As always, it all begins with an offhanded suggestion that someone takes a little too seriously. That idea builds momentum, and before you know it, you are committing to something you never thought you would ever do. That was the case last night when Mohamad Yamama mentioned that he would like to go to the pyramids in the morning. After some discussion, we decided that was a great idea. However, we didn’t stop at just seeing the pyramids, we were to be accompanied by Widian Sami Kassem and Raydan Farid Hamzeh (Team S2S from Lebanon) and would be leaving at 4:00 in the morning to see the sunrise. Oh, and we would be riding horses to get there. When I showed signs that I may back out, the group quickly responded, “If you do not wake up, I will come and knock on your door until you do.” How do you argue with that? After waking up at 3:45 A.M. this morning, Widian Sami Kassem, Raydan Farid Hamzeh, and I ventured into the early morning Cairo darkness. We were picked up by separate cars and met up with each other on the way. When we arrived it was still dark. There were three men sleeping next to the gate and quickly woke to the light of our cars. After some conversation, we were able to get horses for all of us, jumped on, and were off into the Egyptian desert. Widian and Raydan were content to enjoy the view and trot on their way up to the best vantage point. Others, including myself, raced there as fast as our skill levels would allow. Around us were camels, other horses, four wheelers, and four wheel drive trucks. It was a strange site where old meets new, ancient meets modern. Cresting the hill, we all dismounted and headed sat down for a delicious cup of Arabian Tea and enjoyed the view. “Very good tea,” said Raydan with a characteristic smile. Widian smiled and nodded with silent agreement. I have to say, I agreed with them both. On the way home, the veterans decided to mess with the rookie, me. Pulling up closely beside me, they started screaming, “Yah, Yah, YahYahYah!” My horse, “Kristy,” mistakenly thought those screams were from me and took off in full gallop. I was terrified and could not stop the beast. Eventually I decided, if you can’t beat them, join them. I began to lightly kick the horse and was gaining speed. With my cowboy hat flailing in the wind, I caught up and passed my antagonists laughing. Victory for Matt. Over the past couple of days, the group of us who have been hanging out have become close friends, bonding through the experiences of the Imagine Cup and our mutual passion for technology. Raydan, who is among the most passionate that I have ever met, truly grasps the power of technology and has already begun applying it in applications for companies like Pepsi and Nokia. Eventually he hopes to work for Microsoft and help evangelize the power of technology, but for now, he needs to rest after a long ride. So do I. - Matt Bernardy Posted Jul 07 2009, 01:36 PM by editor with no comments

• Joe’s Video Dairy #9

  Turns out while the students were at the Pyramids, so was Joe Wilson!  Joe was setting up the stage for the World Festival where the winners of Imagine Cup will be announced.   Posted Jul 07 2009, 01:21 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Welcome, Video, Pyramids, Worldwide Finals

• Joe’s Video Diary #8

  Joe Wilson is MIA so I'm going to go around and chat with students during cultural day at the Pyramids and Al Azhar Park. Posted Jul 07 2009, 01:14 PM by editor with no comments Filed under: Imagine Cup, Video, Pyramids, Worldwide Finals, Student Profile