São Paulo – Brazilian technology students are among the finalists from over 30 countries to participate in the Imagine Cup, a technology world cup, organized by Microsoft, to be promoted from July 3rd to 7th in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. There are 22 Brazilians enrolled in eight teams that are going to compete in seven of the nine existing categories. The event should grant US$ 180,000 in awards.
Imagine Cup, which is at its 7th edition, includes Brazilian participation for the fifth year running. According to a press statement disclosed by Microsoft Brazil, the country had the highest number of enrolments for the competition, with over 75,000 registrations, which represented growth of 19% over last year. Last year, over 310,000 people registered for participation.
The theme of the competition this year is "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today". From the theme, students had to create solutions through technology to contribute with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. The championship is an initiative of the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship program to stimulate youths worldwide to imagine a better world.
The nine categories of the competition are: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, Robotics and Algorithm, IT Challenge, MashUp, Short Film, Photography and Design. The category with greatest competition is the Software Design category, with 68 teams in the final. There are three Brazilian students in team Virtual Dreams: Bruno Reis and Eduardo Sonnino from the University of São Paulo (USP) and Roberto Sonnino of the University of Campinas (Unicamp). Of the Arab countries participating in this category are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Brazilian teams are also going to participate in the categories de Embedded Development, Game Development, IT Challenge, MashUp and Short Film. Apart from these, another two teams are going to compete in the Interface Design Accessible Technology Award and Software Design Interoperability Award.
During five days in Cairo, teams are going to participate in several elimination rounds to reach the final. The winners should be announced on July 7th in an event promoted in front of the most famous pyramids in the world: Cheops, Chephren and Menkaure.
*Translated by Mark Ament
