The Microsoft Imagine Cup is an annual worldwide competition where young technologists compete to “create applications, games and integrate solutions that can change the way we live, work and play.” Young developers and technology students from around the globe submit their project or aspiring business idea which usually solves some real-world problem. For example, winning projects have spanned ideas from a Virtual Dementia Experience, an app that takes a selfie to determine if you have anaemia, to a game that inspires people to pay more attention to the environment.
The competition occurs over the course of the year in different regions around the global, building up to the finals this July in Seattle. The regional competition in India has just wrapped up and Microsoft India has announced the winning teams, one of whom will soon be declared the grand winner and move onto the worldwide finals.
The winners across the three main categories were:
World Citizenship
- First Prize: KudaPehchano, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, Punjab
- Second Prize: Cronos, Manav Rchna University, Faridabad, Haryana
- Third Prize: The Matrix, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka
Gaming
- First Prize: DIGIY, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand
- Second Prize: Projector, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi
- Third Prize: GameLazer, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Innovation
- First Prize: AxeJulius, Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology, New Delhi
- Second Prize: Wizards at Work, NIIT University, Alwar, Rajasthan
- Third Prize: Liberal, PDM Institutions, Bahadurgarh, Haryana
In total, 9500 students from 23 states in India competed this year. But only one of the announced winners today will move on to the next round. This year marks the 14th annual Imagine Cup, and in that time over 1.7 million students from more than 120 countries have competed with their own projects and ideas. When July approaches we’ll have more coverage of this year’s Imagine Cup finals, so stay tuned.
