Now celebrating its 11th anniversary, the Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition - focused on finding solutions to real-world issues. The competition encourages the world's most talented designers, programmers, developers, and technology enthusiasts to tackle - head on - issues related to: the fight against hunger, disaster relief, poverty, secure energy systems, education, disease control, healthcare, the environment, assisting people with disabilities, and many other critical problems.
Last year, over 358,000 students from 183 countries participated in the competition. For New Zealand, the 2012 competition was the most successful one to date - with over 400 entries, 1,500 competitors and a total of 16 Finalist Teams competing at the 2012 Microsoft Imagine Cup Finals. Now it's your chance to step up to the challenge - so get your team together, and start changing the world. Find your team mates, and begin generating ideas to solve real world problems. Then narrow your scope to something that you can develop (and compete with!) on a global stage.
The Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Challenge runs yearly, from July to July each year. The competition is made up of two National rounds (top 60 and then top 25 teams respectively), whereby a NZ winning team is selected who then have an opportunity to represent NZ at the World Wide Finals.
Round 1 (Now to Late 2012)
Each year we kick off the competition with students submitting a two page proposal of their idea. We provide the teams a template to work from and they can then use this as a guide to enter their idea. The initial part of the competition is focused on finding motivated and passionate students that want to take part in the programme.
Once all submissions are received, the Imagine Cup Crew screens all submissions through the below process:
The teams are judged on the validity of their idea and the motivation and dynamic of the team. A successful team will be passionate about their idea and also be driven to turn their idea into something tangible.
Round 2 (Late 2012 – March 2013)
All top 25 teams will then receive an Industry and Microsoft mentor to work with during the course of the competition. Teams will then need to develop and build their plan towards the final round, where they will need to demonstrate and present their idea in a 10 minute presentation, including a 2 hour show case to local media and industry professionals.
Round 2 will conclude with industry judges short listing the top 25 teams to the best 4, who will then present in front of a live audience and compete for a share of the $20,000 prize money and the title of Winners of the Microsoft Imagine Cup NZ in that year. The winning team will then have an opportunity to represent New Zealand at the World Wide Finals.
We have seen immense success from several student teams that have taken on the competition - of the top 60 teams involved in the last 3 years, 12 of them have gone on to set up companies and continue their work on their initial prototype.
