Imagine Cup
Encyclopedia
Imagine Cup is an annual competition
sponsored and hosted by Microsoft Corp. which brings together young technologists worldwide to help resolve some of the world's toughest challenges. The Imagine Cup comprises five major technology competitions, including Software Design, and four challenges (although the challenge number is updated annually). All Imagine Cup competitors create projects that address the Imagine Cup theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems”. Started in 2003, it has steadily grown in size, where in 2010 more than 325,000 competitors representing 100 countries and regions registered for the Imagine Cup with 400 finalists coming to the Worldwide finals in Warsaw, Poland.
Competitions:
Challenges:
Microsoft's Rules and Regulations, however, contains a section stating that students' intellectual property will be respected, and that neither Imagine Cup competition nor Microsoft claim ownership of the materials provided by the competitors. It is important to highlight that for the sake of the judgment, internal elements of the solution might be made public to the judges.
campus in Silicon Valley
and received technical support and business coaching to create the must-have technology and communications applications of the future.
In 2010, Microsoft began inviting every Imagine Cup team to participate in its new program for startups: Microsoft BizSpark. With this program, startups receive access to current, full-featured software development tools and platforms.
Previous teams include:
In October 2010, two Imagine Cup 2010 United States finalists (Wilson To from the Mobilife team and Christian Hood from BeastWare) were invited to participate in the White House Science Fair.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Hon. John Key sent Team OneBeep from New Zealand a personal letter that congratulated them on their third place finish.
Team Skeek from Thailand, winners of the 2010 Software Design competition, met Dr. Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, a member of Parliament and Secretary General of The Rajapruek Institute Foundation.
Microsoft Poland and members of the European Parliament hosted the “Pushing the Boundaries of Innovation” conference in Brussels. Imagine Cup teams from Poland (fteams and Mutants), Serbia (TFZR), Germany (Mediator), and Belgium (Nom Nom Productions) were in attendance.
Greek Imagine Cup winners, Giorgos Karakatsiotis and Vangos Pterneas met with the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, and demonstrated their project that creates personalized descriptions of museum exhibits based on the user's needs.
Teams Xormis and Educ8 from Jamaica were honored with a special luncheon hosted by the Government of Jamaica that included an address from Hon. Bruce Golding, the prime minister.
Team Think Green had the opportunity to meet with Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia.
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
sponsored and hosted by Microsoft Corp. which brings together young technologists worldwide to help resolve some of the world's toughest challenges. The Imagine Cup comprises five major technology competitions, including Software Design, and four challenges (although the challenge number is updated annually). All Imagine Cup competitors create projects that address the Imagine Cup theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems”. Started in 2003, it has steadily grown in size, where in 2010 more than 325,000 competitors representing 100 countries and regions registered for the Imagine Cup with 400 finalists coming to the Worldwide finals in Warsaw, Poland.
History
The Imagine Cup began in 2003 with approximately 1,000 competitors from 25 countries and regions and has grown to more than 325,000 competitors representing more than 100 countries and regions in 2010. The Imagine Cup Worldwide finals have been held all over the globe. The Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals will be held in New York City, United States.- 2003: BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
- Theme: Link between people, information, systems, and devices, using Web services and .NET as the springboard. - 2004: São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
- Theme: Imagine a world where smart technology makes everyday life easier. - 2005: YokohamaYokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology dissolves the boundaries between us. - 2006: AgraAgraAgra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
& DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives. - 2007: SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all. - 2008: ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment. - 2009: CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems. - 2010: WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems. - 2011: New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems. - 2012: SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- Theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the world's toughest problems.
Competition Structure
All Imagine Cup competitors create projects that address the Imagine Cup theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Imagine Cup 2011 consists of five competitions, including: Software Design, Game Design, Embedded Development, Digital Media and Windows Phone 7. In addition, participants may also compete in four challenges, including: Orchard, IT, and Interoperability and Windows 7 Touch.Competitions:
- Software Design: The Software Design competition challenges students to use technology to solve what they consider to be the toughest problems facing the world today. Using Microsoft tools and technology, competitors create software applications. Students develop, test, and build their ideas into applications that can change the world.
- Embedded Development: The Embedded Development competition allows students to go beyond the desktop to build a complete hardware and software solution that addresses global societal problems.
- Game Design: The Game Design Competition challenges students to create a new game that illustrates the Imagine Cup theme.
- Digital Media: In the Digital Media competition, teams create web video submissions that address the Imagine Cup theme.
- Windows Phone 7: The Windows Phone 7 competition challenges students to create applications for Windows Phone 7 that address the Imagine Cup theme.
Challenges:
- IT: The object of the IT Challenge is to highlight the art and science of developing, deploying, and maintaining IT systems that are efficient, functional, robust and secure.
- Interoperability: The Interoperability Challenge 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.
- Orchard: The Orchard Challenge tasks students with creating applications that can be used online, such as a shopping cart and checkout system, video gallery or maps and geolocation services.
- Windows 7 Touch: The Windows 7 Touch Challenge tasks students with leveraging Windows 7 Touch technology to help people use their computer in a more natural, accessible, and interactive way.
Criticism
The Microsoft Corporation has been criticized for including provisions in the competition's legal documents, stating that by accepting their prizes, winners agree to allow Microsoft to use concepts, techniques, ideas or solutions from the winning applications "for any purpose." Also, the competition has been criticized for being rather Microsoft-centric, with demands such as "the entry must be designed on .NET Framework 2.0 using Microsoft Visual Studio" or "30% of the scoring in this round will be based on use of showcasing the .NET framework".Microsoft's Rules and Regulations, however, contains a section stating that students' intellectual property will be respected, and that neither Imagine Cup competition nor Microsoft claim ownership of the materials provided by the competitors. It is important to highlight that for the sake of the judgment, internal elements of the solution might be made public to the judges.
Winners
There are a number of competitions and challenges within the Imagine Cup. The Software Design category is the primary competition in which its winners take home the Imagine Cup trophy.Software Design
| 2004 |  Team EPITAAymeric Gaurat Apelli Francois Beaussier Guillaume Belmas Vincent Vergonjeanne |
 Team InspirationStanislav Vonog Nikolay Surin Konstantin Zhereb Taras Kushko |
 Team SmartEyesEleni Korkontzila Dimitrios Bisias Styliani Taplidou Nikolaos Trichakis |
| 2005 | Team OmniMusic Stanislav Vonog Nikolay Surin Alexander Popov Ruslan Gilfanov |
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| 2006 |  Team Even .ctor-Giorgio Sardo Massimo Paternoster Silvia Perrone Andrea Sossich |
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| 2007 |  Team 3KCPrachaya Phaisanwiphatpong Vasan Chienmaneetaweesin Jatupon Sukkasem Pathompol Saeng-Uraiporn |
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| 2008 |  Team SOAKDavid Burela Edward Hooper Dimaz Pramudnya Long Zheng |
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| 2009 |  Team SytechAdrian Buzgar Calin Juravle Andreas Resios |
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| 2010 | Team Skeek Krithee Sirisith Pichai Sodsai Thanasunn Dilokpinitnun Nonthawat Srichad. |
 Team TFZR |
 Team OneBeepVinny Jeet Steve Ward Kayo Lakadia Chanyeol Yoo |
| 2011 |  Team HermesJames McNamara Calum Cawley Matthew Padden Aine Conaghan |
 Team Note-Taker |
 OaSys |
Embedded Development Competition
| 2007 |  Team TriventDreams ED |
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| 2008 |  Team Trail Blazers |
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| 2009 |  Team Wafree |
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| 2010 |  Team SmarterME |
Team MCPU |
Team GERAS |
| 2011 | NTHUCS |
 Harmonicare |
Endeavour_Design |
Game Design
| 2008 | Team Mother Gaia Studio |
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| 2009 | Team LEVV It |
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| 2010 |  Team By Implication |
 NomNom Productions |
Green Gears Studio |
| 2011 Mobile | Geekologic |
Close World Mobile |
Team Dragon |
| 2011 Web |  Cellardoor |
Signum Fidei |
 Quegee Team |
| 2011 Windows/Xbox | Signum Games |
JubJub |
 WickedTeam |
IT Challenge
| 2009 | Cosmin Ilie |
||
| 2010 | WeiQiu Wen |
 Miklos Cari Sivila |
zxc1984 |
| 2011 | Jean-Sébastien Duchêne |
Błażej Matuszyk |
Yunheng Mong |
Digital Media
| 2010 | Mirror Vita |
 Dreaming Spirits |
Woolgathering |
| 2011 | M.N.A. |
 Brothers Forever |
CottonCandy |
Windows 7 Touch Challenge
| 2011 | Team India Rose Anthony Froissant José Martins |
 _dreambender_ |
 IUVO |
Innovation Accelerator
The Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator was a program that, between 2006 and 2008, provided Imagine Cup Software Design teams with direction on the next stage of developing their innovative ideas into a business. Each year, between 2006-2008, six teams were selected for the Innovation Accelerator program. Participants in the Innovation Accelerator program travelled travelled to the Microsoft Mountain ViewMountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
campus in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
and received technical support and business coaching to create the must-have technology and communications applications of the future.
In 2010, Microsoft began inviting every Imagine Cup team to participate in its new program for startups: Microsoft BizSpark. With this program, startups receive access to current, full-featured software development tools and platforms.
Previous teams include:
- 2006: BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... - 2007: IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, - 2008: AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
,
Student Recognition
Imagine Cup participants from around the world who won their regional competitions in 2010 have been recognized by their government leaders.In October 2010, two Imagine Cup 2010 United States finalists (Wilson To from the Mobilife team and Christian Hood from BeastWare) were invited to participate in the White House Science Fair.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Hon. John Key sent Team OneBeep from New Zealand a personal letter that congratulated them on their third place finish.
Team Skeek from Thailand, winners of the 2010 Software Design competition, met Dr. Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, a member of Parliament and Secretary General of The Rajapruek Institute Foundation.
Microsoft Poland and members of the European Parliament hosted the “Pushing the Boundaries of Innovation” conference in Brussels. Imagine Cup teams from Poland (fteams and Mutants), Serbia (TFZR), Germany (Mediator), and Belgium (Nom Nom Productions) were in attendance.
Greek Imagine Cup winners, Giorgos Karakatsiotis and Vangos Pterneas met with the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, and demonstrated their project that creates personalized descriptions of museum exhibits based on the user's needs.
Teams Xormis and Educ8 from Jamaica were honored with a special luncheon hosted by the Government of Jamaica that included an address from Hon. Bruce Golding, the prime minister.
Team Think Green had the opportunity to meet with Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia.