WASHINGTON D.C. – April 26, 2010 – All his life, Wilson To wanted to be an inspiration to those around him - not on the basketball court or in the classroom, but out in the real world.
On Monday, student peers, technical leaders from Microsoft, and film director James Cameron were among those who applauded To’s inspirational work to help fight disease in the developing world.
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| Imagine Cup winners, filmmaker James Cameron, and Microsoft’s Craig Mundie and Anthony Salcito share their perspectives on the competition. |
To is the team leader of Mobilife, a group of students from University of California, Davis who won the grand prize in Software Design at the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals. Mobilife will go on to represent the United States this summer at the Imagine Cup world finals in Poland. There they will face off against teams from all over the world with the mobile application they built that can diagnose vascular diseases.
Standing with his team on the podium after the award ceremony, To struggled to find the right words to convey his feelings.
“They called out our name, and I just started crying,” To said. “I first got involved with the Imagine Cup not because of the chance to go to Poland, or because of the prize money, but because I just wanted to help people.”
Mobilife’s capture of the top prize brought to a close the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals. More than 22,000 students from across the country registered for the event, and the top 80 competed this weekend in Washington, D.C. The Imagine Cup, the world’s largest student technology competition, called on students to use technology to solve some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, said the Imagine Cup was more than just a software competition. “I look at the teams that are here today to inspire the world to use technology and make a real difference,” Mundie told the finalists during his keynote speech.
Joining Mundie were filmmaker James Cameron and Karen Cator, the director of education technology at the U.S. Department of Education. Cameron, who was in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 40th Earth Day last week, said he volunteered to speak at the Imagine Cup because he believes in its approach of having technology students tackle tough social, environmental, and educational problems.
“What I appreciate about what Microsoft is doing with the Imagine Cup is that they’re taking the natural enthusiasm and curiosity of students who are interested in science and technology, and channeling that toward a sense of social responsibility,” Cameron said.
U.S. Imagine Cup Finals Get Underway
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Team LifeCode Demonstration
Kun Wang of team LifeCode from Wayne State University demonstrates his team’s project to film director James Cameron, his wife Suzy Amis Cameron and Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, at U.S. Imagine Cup Finals held in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Monday. April 26, 2010
Craig Mundie Congratulates Students
Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Office bumps fist with U.S. Imagine Cup competitor Cal Coopmans of Utah State University on Monday at the Newseum in Washington D.C. April 26, 2010
Nanobots! from Tufts
Members of Tufts University’s team AwesomeSauce give Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, a quick tutorial of their game Nanobots! before he tries it out. April 26, 2010
Mobilife Wins Software Design Category
Team Mobilife walks to the podium after being announced the grand prize winners in the software design category at the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals. The team from the University of California, Davis will represent the United States this summer at the Imagine Cup world finals in Poland. April 26, 2010
Students Inspire James Cameron
Christina Fries, Tianlu Zhang, Christina Chang and Cameron Solomon of Team Fortran C from UCLA demonstrate their game to director James Cameron at the 2010 Imagine Cup competition at the Newseum in Washington, DC on Monday. April 26, 2010
Team To Be Announced, Team Mobilife Win Grand Prizes
(L to R): Will Isenhour, Danny Helms, Jonathan Mead and Nic Colley, of Team To Be Announced, winners in the game design category; Anthony Salcito and Mark Hindsbro, Microsoft; and Helena Xu, Kavon Gaffari, Wilson To, and Audrey Lee of Team Mobilife, winner of the software design category.
Ifrit Salsa Demonstration
Alaa Gharandoq of the University of Houston’s team Ifrit Salsa demonstrates their game, RoboRecycler at the 2010 Imagine Cup competition at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Monday. April 26, 2010
Team Extraplaid Demonstration
Josh Light of Utah State University’s Team Extraplaid holds up a dollar bill while demoing his team’s project, a Facebook application that connects donors with entrepreneurs. April 26, 2010
Team Blog Finalists
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology’s Team Blob hugs on hearing they will be competing in U.S. Imagine Cup Finals on Monday in the software design category. Left to right are mentor Antonette Logar, Robyn Krage, Lori Rebenitsch, and Jaelle Scheuerman. April 25, 2010
Team Extraplaid Finalists
Utah State University’s team Extraplaid reacts after finding out that their team advanced to the U.S. Imagine Cup’s final round on Monday in the software design category. From left to right, team members Susanna Beck (filming her teammates), Yiding Han, Josh Light, and Cal Coopmans. April 25, 2010
Coders Inc.
The members of Coders Inc. hope their project gives donors, volunteers, and nonprofit organizations an easier way to connect. Standing from left are Shayok Mukhopadhyay, Yamini Girey and Krishna Rao. April 25, 2010
U.S. Imagine Cup judge Jackie Shuler
“When you get to college, there’s a set group of women in computer science and technology,” she said. “At a lot of schools, you can usually count them on one hand.” Jackie Shuler, senior manager for university relations at Electronic Arts (EA) and U.S. Imagine Cup Finals judge. April 25, 2010
Mohammed Akheel
"The whole idea of the Imagine Cup is to use technology to make the world a better place," said Mohammed Akheel, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "I can’t do everything, but I can help people doing what I do best. For me, that’s the greatest thing." April 24, 2010
Touring D.C. Via Segway
U.S. Imagine Cup participants in front of the White House on an afternoon tour of the Washington D.C. mall area on Segways. Pictured from left to right are Krishna Vijayanagar, Shayok Mukhopadhyay, Yamini Girey, Farhad Javidt, Will Isenhour, Nic Colley, Danny Helms, and Jonathan Mead. April 24, 2010
Team Blob Demo
Team Blob members (L to R) Lori Rebenitsch, Robyn Krage, and Jaelle Scheuerman demo their application that aims to bring emerging multitouch technology into K-12 classrooms. The all-woman team is from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. April 24, 2010
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
The University of Houston’s Alaa Gharandoq checks out the Thomas Jefferson Memorial during a trolley-based tour of Washington D.C. Saturday. Her team, Ifrit Salsa, is competing in the game design category. April 24, 2010
LeveL13 in D.C.
U.S. Imagine Cup competitors Reggie Tye, Paul Diaz, Syung Whan You and Yu-Chao Chen of team LeveL13 from the University of Houston outside Microsoft's Washington D.C. headquarters building. April 23, 2010
Drawing for Position
University of Arkansas at Little Rock student Jenish Parhari, a member of team MedRX, draws a presentation time slot for her team at the U.S. Imagine Cup competition held at Microsoft's Washington D.C. headquarters. April 23, 2010
Mango Bunnies
Malisa Vongskul, mentor Erin ‘Ed’ Donahue, and Ashley Myers of team Mango Bunnies at the U.S. Imagine Cup competition held at Microsoft’s Washington D.C. Headquarters. April 23, 2010
Smile for the Camera
Impromptu photo session at the start of the U.S. Imagine Cup competition held at Microsoft's Washington D.C. Headquarters. April 23, 2010
Hanging out at the Imagine Cup
Participants exchange multicolored carabiners as part of a get to know each other exercise at the U.S. Imagine Cup competition held at Microsoft's Washington D.C. Headquarters. University of Houston’s Syung Whan You of team LeveL13 is at right. April 23, 2010
The presence of an Academy Award®-winning director provided star wattage at the U.S. Imagine Cup Finals, but the most distinguished guests at the competition were the finalists themselves, said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Education at Microsoft. “The Imagine Cup is a celebration of talented students bringing together their passion for technology and their desire to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems,” he said.
Team Mobilife’s To explained that his team’s project tackles a tough problem in many rural areas around the world. Vascular diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and sickle cell anemia are difficult to diagnose in developing regions that often lack the necessary tools.
To said he’s been researching the idea for a long time. “It started when I did some volunteer work at a pathology lab. I decided I wanted to keep doing the work and really expand it,” he said. “It’s my baby.”
So To surrounded himself with the “best and brightest” at the University of California, Davis to create Mobilife. Computer-assisted microscopy has been around for a while, To said, but it was never before used on a mobile platform.
To’s teammate Kayvon Ghaffari said that “being among all the other teams (on the podium) is the highest honor.” At the team’s presentation in front of the judges early that morning, they ran into a few technical problems. “I thought it was over after that,” Ghaffari said.
David Sanger, chief Washington, D.C., correspondent of the New York Times and one of the judges at the event, pointed to the team and said, “First U.S. winners right here,” referring to the fact that the U.S. has never before won in the Software Design category at the Imagine Cup world finals.
In the Game Design category, team To Be Announced was named grand prize winner. It took Nic Colley a moment to realize his team had achieved their ultimate goal.
“We’re sitting there, then I go running down the hall like ‘The Price is Right,’” Colley said. “If there’s a word for this, it has to be ‘awesome.’” Teammate Will Isenhour wasn’t sure what to make of winning. “It’s still sinking in,” he said, explaining that the team put so much into the project that it completely consumed them. “The process is kind of like being beaten in the head, but at least it comes out as something without a hospital bill.”
Earlier that morning, Cameron and Mundie walked the showcase floor for the event, asking students about their projects, including team LifeCode from Wayne State University.
“So is this a report on someone’s medical condition?” Cameron asked the team. They explained that their project monitors people with chronic health conditions that could result in them requiring immediate help when they are out and about. Their phone tracks their vital signs and lets paramedics know immediately if they need help. “My mom needs that,” Cameron said, and when someone laughed, he added “she does, seriously.”
As Kun Wang – his hands shaking – used his phone to demo the project for the pair, teammate Steve Markovitch explained how it worked.
Moments later, Markovitch was still absorbing the fact that he had just talked to the guy who made the most popular movie of all time. “This was the most interesting person I’ve ever met in my life,” he said. “Certainly the most famous.” He said Cameron’s “Terminator 2” is one of his favorite movies, but that he likes them all. “He’s always on the cutting edge of using the latest technology in his movies,” Markovitch said.
Meanwhile, Wang was feeling the moment in a different way. “It’s hard to use words,” he said. “I’m running out of words to explain how I feel. I still can’t believe that I even shook hands with him.”