Microsoft Announces Worldwide Finalists for Imagine Cup 2012

Press release:

Microsoft Announces Worldwide Finalists for Imagine Cup 2012

May 23, 2012

More than 350 students from around the world invited to compete at the 10th anniversary Microsoft Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals.

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NEW YORK — May 23, 2012 — Marking the 10th anniversary of the Microsoft Imagine Cupstudent technology competition, Microsoft Corp. today announced the teams that will head to the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in July in Sydney, to showcase their innovative ideas for using technology to solve the world’s toughest problems. As the winners of regional, national and online Imagine Cup competitions, these students represent the future of technology innovation and entrepreneurialism. 

Student teams from 75 countries have advanced to the finals with projects that tackle humanitarian issues including health, accessibility, the environment, education and more. They will compete at the Worldwide Finals event, July 6–10, for $175,000 (U.S.) in cash prizes in categories including Software Design, Game Design: Phone, Game Design: Xbox/Windows, the Windows Phone Challenge sponsored by Nokia, the IT Challenge, the Windows Azure Challenge, the Kinect Fun Labs Challenge sponsored by Microsoft Studios, and the Windows Metro Style App Challenge sponsored by Windows. In addition, today Microsoft is announcing two new awards for the Worldwide Finalists that are sponsored by The Coca-Cola Co.: Environmental Sustainability and Health Awareness. All Worldwide Finalist teams are invited to apply for these awards. 

“During the past decade, students have taken the lead in adopting new technologies and championing social transformation,” said Moorthy Uppaluri, general manager, Academic Programs at Microsoft. “Ten years ago, we created Imagine Cup with the idea that students can change the world — and every year they continue to demonstrate their passion and creativity in creating technology that makes the world a better place.”

More on the Environmental Sustainability and Health Awareness Awards

Microsoft and Coca-Cola are also announcing a collaboration to encourage the next generation of young technologists and entrepreneurs to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to improve the environment and healthy living. Imagine Cup Worldwide Finalist teams whose projects target these topics will be eligible to compete for the new Imagine Cup 2012 Environmental Sustainability Award and Health Awareness Award, sponsored by Coca-Cola. 

“Given the scale and complexity of today’s issues, it’s challenging for one business or even one industry to make a difference alone,” said Guy Wollaert, chief technical officer, The Coca-Cola Co. “Coca-Cola’s support of Imagine Cup provides an additional venue for students to be recognized for their innovation in addressing the world’s toughest environmental and health-related issues.” 

The winning team for each award will be announced at the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in Sydney and each team will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000 (U.S.). More information can be found at http://www.imaginecup.com. 

A Decade of Imagine Cup

Imagine Cup has inspired a generation, with 1.65 million students from 190 countries participating in the competition during the past decade. Since last year, students from 29 new regions and countries, including Haiti, Rwanda, the Republic of Kosovo and Myanmar, have registered for the competition.

This year marks the first time that the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals event will take place in Australia. 

During the first Imagine Cup in 2003, there were a little more than 1,000 registrants from 25 countries, with only 15 finalist teams competing at the Worldwide Finals in Barcelona. Tu Nguyen, from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, won first prize with a Pocket PC application designed to bridge the language gap between English-speaking waiters and Vietnamese-speaking chefs. Like many Imagine Cup alumni, Nguyen has gone on to become an entrepreneur and innovator; he was recognized in 2006 by the Midlands Business Journal as one of Omaha’s top 40 executives under 40 years of age, and is now chief technology officer of DocLanding, an online document management provider.

Dreaming Big and Creating Real-World Solutions: Imagine Cup Grants 

To extend the impact of Imagine Cup, last year Microsoft launched the Imagine Cup Grantsprogram, a three-year, $3 million investment by Microsoft to help students turn their ideas into reality. The first year of grant recipients were announced in January, including team Lifelens (United States), which developed a Windows Phone application that can detect the presence of malaria through a blood sample. The team is using the financial and in-kind support from the grant to develop its technology into a platform that uses Windows 8-based tablets and addresses other pathological diseases in addition to malaria.

“The Imagine Cup opens up students’ eyes to nontraditional technology applications that can address global issues and enable teams to brainstorm innovative ways to solve these problems,” said Wilson To, on behalf of the team. 

More information about the Lifelens project is available at http://lifelensproject.com/blog.

All the 2012 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finalists announced today will be eligible to apply for the Imagine Cup Grants program this year.

Imagine Cup 2012 Worldwide Finalists 

The 2012 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finalist teams are:

Imagine Cup 2012 Worldwide Finalists
Category	Country	Team Name
Software Design	Algeria	NakamaTeam
Software Design	Argentina	BoddyMusic
Software Design	Armenia	mLab
Software Design	Australia	StethoCloud
Software Design	Bahrain	FutureTorch
Software Design	Bangladesh	Engine
Software Design	Belgium	Make A Sign
Software Design	Bosnia and Herzegovina	SPU Team
Software Design	Brazil	Digital Mangue
Software Design	Bulgaria	K-Vision
Software Design	Canada	Greeni
Software Design	Chile	IntegraKINECT
Software Design	China	Xight
Software Design	Croatia	Team Spectrum
Software Design	Cyprus	BrightSight
Software Design	Czech Republic	JoyMind
Software Design	Dominican Republic	The Fellowship of the Ring
Software Design	Ecuador	Kany Warmys
Software Design	Egypt	Level Up
Software Design	Finland	Matalapaine
Software Design	France	CapStreet
Software Design	Georgia	Green Bytes
Software Design	Germany	Greenway
Software Design	Greece	Symbiosis
Software Design	India	The D Labs
Software Design	Indonesia	Malabar
Software Design	Iraq	Mirage Tech
Software Design	Ireland	DocTek Systems
Software Design	Italy	Italian Ingenium Team
Software Design	Ivory Coast	e-soft
Software Design	Japan	Coccolo
Software Design	Jordan	Dancing Pillow
Software Design	Kazakhstan	Etzoockee
Software Design	Korea	Let IT Bee
Software Design	Kuwait	The Code Breakers
Software Design	Lebanon	Cake
Software Design	Malaysia	The Rhapsody
Software Design	Malta	TDGS
Software Design	Mexico	ReImagine
Software Design	Morocco	Team Golden Drop
Software Design	New Zealand	Mobile Eyes
Software Design	Nigeria	Gravity
Software Design	Oman	Grawesome
Software Design	Pakistan	Celoks
Software Design	Palestinian Authorities	flyKIT
Software Design	Peru	Wake Up
Software Design	Philippines	Divided By Zero
Software Design	Poland	ARMED
Software Design	Portugal	wi-GO
Software Design	Puerto Rico	Think
Software Design	Qatar	Technology Lanterns
Software Design	Romania	IQube
Software Design	Russia	Bonjour Development
Software Design	Senegal	Sen Section
Software Design	Serbia	CatchCake
Software Design	Singapore	AlphaWaves
Software Design	Algeria	NakamaTeam
Software Design	Slovakia	Team OwNet
Software Design	Algeria	NakamaTeam
Software Design	Slovenia	Osmosis
Software Design	South Africa	Asclepius
Software Design	Spain	HealthConnect
Software Design	Sri Lanka	Team V360
Software Design	Taiwan	uCHAMPsys
Software Design	Thailand	Novitat
Software Design	Tunisia	Heroes come Back
Software Design	Turkey	Repharmers
Software Design	Uganda	cipher256
Software Design	Ukraine	Quadsquad
Software Design	United Arab Emirates	RevolUtion
Software Design	United Kingdom	Team EyeWorks
Software Design	United States	FlashFood
Software Design	Venezuela	Arbel
Software Design	Vietnam	GP3S
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Belgium	Hotfix_Windows
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Brazil	The Doers
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	China	xidianembed_6
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	France	Nano
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Iceland	Radiant
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Japan	Esperanza
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Japan	Team Blossom
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Portugal	Red Phoenix Studios
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Thailand	TANG Thai
Game Design: Xbox/Windows	Ukraine	HammerBird
Game Design: Phone	Brazil	Monkey Pepper
Game Design: Phone	Czech Republic	Wicked Games
Game Design: Phone	France	Ecosia
Game Design: Phone	France	Swifteam
Game Design: Phone	Hungary	Turtle Games
Game Design: Phone	Indonesia	Org.Com mobile
Game Design: Phone	Korea	Gaon Nuri
Game Design: Phone	Lithuania	LevelUp
Game Design: Phone	Romania	AVe
Game Design: Phone	United States	Drexel Dragons
Windows Metro Style App Challenge	Brazil	Virtual Dreams Metro
Windows Metro Style App Challenge	Korea	TokTok
Windows Metro Style App Challenge	Ukraine	nLife
Windows Azure Challenge	Algeria	The Klein Team
Windows Azure Challenge	Brazil	Virtual Dreams Azure
Windows Azure Challenge	Romania	Complex
Windows Phone Challenge	Egypt	Vivid
Windows Phone Challenge	Finland	Aaltovation
Windows Phone Challenge	Poland	The Stack
IT Challenge	Egypt	Sherif Talaat
IT Challenge	Romania	Alexandru Ticlea
IT Challenge	Singapore	Joshua Sim
Kinect Fun Labs Challenge	To be announced in June	To be announced in June
Kinect Fun Labs Challenge	To be announced in June	To be announced in June
Kinect Fun Labs Challenge	To be announced in June	To be announced in June

More information about Imagine Cup is available at the Imagine Cup Virtual Pressroom and on the Imagine Cup blog.

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