NEW DELHI: This team did not even make it to the second round of Microsoft's world premier student technology competition "Imagine Cup-2006" which ended here on Friday. But they are winners nevertheless.

For a team that calls itself "AG-107" from Lebanon, just having made it to Agra (where they took part in Microsoft's weeklong competition) despite the Israeli aggression is nothing short of sweet victory against the circumstances that the people are finding themselves in at present.

The team from Lebanon that took part in the Software Design category was among the over 60 teams selected from across the world to participate in the Imagine Cup under the theme, "Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives''.

Participating in the software design competition, team AG-107 consisted of Eddy Touma and Romeo Issa from the American University of Technology (AUT) in Beirut.

Their project, "E-Diet", allows people to follow a fully customised diet according to their food preference that can be balanced against the one recommended by their dietician.

It also allows the dietician to provide recommendations through a user-friendly interface in minimal time and with maximum efficiency. The programme is meant for both dieticians and patients.

According to Eddy and Romeo, they met at AUT, became friends, and started working together as a team long before they decided to take part in the Imagine Cup-2006.

"Our project is inspired by the fact that diet is the most contributing factor in defining a human's health and we researched existing software learning its weaknesses and finding innovative ideas that would make such software useful and more efficient and gathered many ideas from different professionals in the nutrition field,'' says Romeo.

Speaking about their determination to make it to Agra despite all the problems back home, Romeo says: "Back home it is risky to travel because of the bombing and we are naturally worried about people back home. However, through the competition we were challenged, given an opportunity to compete with the best in the world and to use technology to the best innovative use possible.''

The team was selected to take part in the world finals in India after winning the Lebanese competition and qualifying in the regional competition.

"Though we haven't won here, there is little to regret. It is an achievement that we have made it this far,'' adds Romeo.

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