From the Wires
Imagine Cup 2009 Kicks Off in Cairo
- Global finals of the world's largest technology competition begin today in Egypt.
Jul. 3, 2009 02:00 PM
CAIRO, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Competition begins today in Cairo for 444 students from 124 countries and
regions at the Imagine Cup 2009 Worldwide Finals. Now in its seventh year,
Imagine Cup is an annual Microsoft Corp. competition that challenges students
around the globe to use their creative genius to build technology solutions
that can help address some of the world's toughest challenges.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
This year, the students' efforts are focused on using technology to help
address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. These goals
encompass some of the most difficult issues facing our world, ranging from
halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing
universal primary education. The Imagine Cup calls on young programmers,
artists and technologists to rise to this challenge: "Imagine a world where
technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today."
More than 300,000 students from 100 countries accepted this challenge and
registered for Imagine Cup 2009. Over the past year, students have
participated in local, regional and online competitions, showcasing their
innovative solutions to real-world problems. The winners of these initial
rounds arrive in Cairo today, where they will present their entries to a
panel of judges from academia and the technology industry. At stake is more
than US$288,000 in prize money and the chance to kick-start their careers in
one of several technological fields.
"By providing students with cutting-edge technology and challenging them
to address some of our world's most challenging issues, the Microsoft Imagine
Cup is tapping an incredible and limitless resource - the passion, creativity
and talents of students from around the globe," said Ray Ozzie, chief
software architect at Microsoft.
Student teams compete in the Imagine Cup 2009 Worldwide Finals across
nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, IT
Challenge, Robotics and Algorithm, MashUp, Photography, Short Film and
Design. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 7, as part of the
Imagine Cup World Festival closing ceremonies with the pyramids at Giza as
the backdrop.
"Students around the world are contributing their creativity and passion
in this year's Imagine Cup, and they have developed truly amazing solutions
to tackle the most pressing social problems facing our world," said Joe
Wilson, senior director of Academic Initiatives in the Developer & Platform
Evangelism Division at Microsoft. "It's clear that the leaders of tomorrow's
most innovative companies won't be found in boardrooms - they will be
discovered in dorm rooms."
In addition to the nine main categories of competition, there are several
Achievement Awards this year, including the Interoperability Award, Unlimited
Potential Design for Development Award, Accessibility Award, Unlimited
Potential MultiPoint Education Award, Parallel Computing Award, Tablet
Accessibility Award and the H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak Special Award sponsored
by the first lady of Egypt through the Cyber Peace Initiative (CPI).
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 Research External
Research, Microsoft Parallel Computing Platform, Microsoft Robotics,
Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group, Windows Embedded Business, Windows
Mobile and Microsoft XNA Game Platform Group.
More information on the Imagine Cup is available online at
http://www.imaginecup.com. More information on the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals can be found online at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals.
Up-to-date information on the finals competition is available at the official
Imagine Cup blog.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
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