Students encouraged to let imagination run wild with .NET
- — 11 February, 2004 13:52
Microsoft is calling on entrepreneurial uni students with ideas for a software program based on its .NET framework to step forward and take part in the Imagine Cup 2004 software design competition.
The purpose of the Imagine Cup is to encourage students to develop technology solutions which improve a particular aspect of life, such as entertainment, transportation, education, healthcare or sports, Microsoft says.
All entries in the Cup are expected to involve the development and use of at least one Web service on the Visual Studio .NET platform, as well as feature a smart agent that “learns” over time. Entries can be crafted by a team of up to four members, all of whom must be full-time or part-time university students.
The Imagine Cup was initiated by Microsoft last year as a global technology competition for software programming students. Participants were required to enter at a country level, with winners earning the right to participate in the regional competition. The global final featuring regional Cup winners was held in conjunction with Microsoft’s TechEd conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Microsoft academic evangelist Tyson Dowd said around 20 entrants participated in the Australian software programming competition last year, with teams getting around three weeks to develop their entries.
The winning Australian entry was from Evan Ferris, a student at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
“His entry was particularly impressive in that he wrote it in a week -- including two days to learn the programming language Visual C# and Microsoft's .NET Framework, which he had never used before,” Dowd said. This year, the winner of the second annual Australian Imagine Cup 2004 software title will win a trip directly to the Imagine Cup 2004 world finals competition, to be held in Brazil between 6 and 8 July 2004. Runners up will receive an Xbox console with three new release titles or a PC games bundle (available to each group participant).
The world Imagine Cup 2004 software design competition winner will receive $US25,000, while second and third place winners will be granted $US15,000 and $US10,000, respectively.
Entries for this year’s competition must employ at least one mobile device, such as a smartphone or PDA (a mobile device emulator can be used). An architectural diagram of the solution as well as specifics on non-original code, concepts and research involved in developing the software must also be submitted.
An external panel selected by Microsoft will judge entries on five components: a smart component (which learning techniques are employed in the solution), the originality of the solution, its usefulness, the presentation of the solution to the judges, and the elegance of its implementation.
Registrations for the Australian competition close on 29 March 2004, with entries due by 26 April. The winner of the Australian Cup will be announced on 17 May 2004.
More information on the Australian Imagine Cup competition is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/msdn/imaginecup/
Alongside the software design competition, Imagine Cup 2004 has also been expanded to include three different technology categories: algorithms, rendering and short film.
General information about the worldwide Imagine Cup 2004 can be found at: http://www.imaginecup.com/
