Today we announced the student teams for the Imagine Cup, which we’ll be flying to Seattle in July for the 2014 World Finals. This year’s line-up is full of great tech projects in the Games, Innovation, and World Citizenship categories. While we couldn’t be more excited and proud to see how our tools and platforms are being used by students worldwide, the real magic is in these students’ creativity. The impressive work they have done with apps, devices, robotics, and natural user interfaces is inspiring.
We believe in the power and the vision of student developers worldwide, and nothing demonstrates that commitment better than the thrill and inspiration of competition through Imagine Cup.
In its twelfth season, the Imagine Cup, has encouraged students to push themselves, build their skills, and take complete projects from idea to release. But just as technology has changed radically in these twelve years, Imagine Cup has also changed to keep pace. Where purely technical skills were once the focus of Imagine Cup, students now compete year round to hone soft skills.
Entrepreneurial skills, project management, telling user stories, developing customer personas, generating competitive analysis, and crafting accessible and elegant user experiences – these skills in conjunction with technical skills make great Imagine Cup contestants. In today’s world, interdisciplinary skills are critical to software development – Imagine Cup students develop skills, across the spectrum, to deliver great future technology.
The students of today are not just the developers of tomorrow – they are also the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. This year, The Imagine Cup will empower students from Nigeria, Cyprus, Bahrain, and more than thirty other countries to bring their best work to Seattle and show the world the future of technology.
Check out the World Finals teams now and see the future they’re making. It’s seriously great.
Watch the Webcast
If you want to dig even deeper, the webseries Imagine Cup TV is back with a special episode, in which we cover each team and their projects, as well as getting insights from special guests on technology industry trends. The guests include:
- Akhtar Badshah of Microsoft Citizenship speaking on the use of technology for social good in the World Citizenship category
- Rahul Sood of Microsoft Ventures speaking on student startups and the Innovation category
- Andrew Parsons, longtime Imagine Cup games guru, talking about the latest trends in videogame
Stay tuned by subscribing to this blog's RSS feed or by following me on Twitter @stevenguggs for more updates ahead of the finals. I look forward to welcoming all of the participants to Seattle at the end of July!
Guggs