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Italy on top at Imagine Cup

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

WITH THE BRIGHTEST: Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal with the winners in one of the categories at the World finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: S. Subramanium

NEW DELHI: After a week of intense competition among world finalists chosen from a pool of more than 65,000 students from over 100 countries, the team from Italy won the Microsoft Corp `Imagine Cup-2006', the world's premier student technology competition organised in Agra.

The winning team was selected from among 42 software design finalist teams which created a software application using Microsoft technology and Microsoft .NET Web Services based on the Imagine Cup competition theme: "Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives.''

The winning team walked away with a cash prize of $25,000. The second place in the category was bagged by Brazil and the third place was taken by Norway.

The Indian team won the third place in the Interface Design category.

The results of the competition were announced here on Friday. Over 150 students representing 41 countries were selected to take part in the worldwide Imagine Cup finals to compete in six categories including Software Design, Algorithm, Short Film, Interface Design and Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle).

Speaking at the award ceremony, Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal observed: "I am delighted to be amid some of the brightest young minds from across the globe. In them I see the future, the next phase of the technology revolution, and the desire to make the world a better place not just for themselves but for others too. The role of Governments and businesses is to make sure that we provide them with those opportunities. The Imagine Cup is one of those platforms, and I am glad India played host and hopefully not only inspired them but also learned from them.''

The winners include Poland that took all the three positions in the Algorithm category. The Short Film category saw Canada taking the first place followed by Poland and US, while Brazil won in the Interface Design followed by China and India. In the last category Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle), France won the competition followed by the Republic of Serbia.

The Imagine Cup, now in its fourth year, is a competition designed to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom. It challenges students to imagine a better world enabled by their own genius, creativity and energy, and provides opportunities for participation in the future of technology, software and computing. Teams develop innovative projects that offer practical applicability and present real-world solutions to real-world problems.

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