| Student developers honored at Tech-Ed |
May 24, 2004
On the eve of its annual Tech-Ed 2004 conference, Microsoft announced the three U.S. finalists for the Imagine Cup 2004 software design invitational competition for students. The first-place team, from the University of California at Los Angeles, will head to the worldwide finals in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in July.
Twenty eight students representing nine winning teams from regional competitions competed in the exhibition at UC San Diego. The student teams were asked to submit an application demonstrating the theme of imagining a world where smart technology makes everyday life easier. The top three finalists are these: - First-place winner -- Chris To, William So, Tree Li and Alex Chang of the University of California at Los Angeles developed Project PICKS, a "digital concierge" that runs on mobile devices and is designed to help users answer lifestyle questions, such as where to eat. Project PICKS was built on the .NET Compact Framework with Visual Studio .NET 2003 and leverages the power of Web services and Microsoft MapPoint Location Services. Team UCLA received the U.S. National Champion title, a cash reward of $8,000 to be shared equally, and a trip to the worldwide finals in S�o Paolo.
- Second-place winner -- Mark Woods, Taylor Peterson, Stuart Lim and David Smith of Washington University created ALIVE: Adaptive Learning and Interactive Virtual Education, an application to sophisticate educational techniques for educators and students. Professors can use a curriculum design editor to create tests, among other learning tools, that students can access. Team Washington University received a cash reward of $4,000.
- Third-place winner -- Two teams tied for third place. Dave Kaplan of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed ALADIN (An Ldap ADministration Interface with .NET) to create a fast and easy way to browse and administer Ldap and Active Directory servers. Using Microsoft Speech Server, ALADIN can also integrate with Andover building automation software to open doors on voice command. Viswanathan Ramachandran, Sriam Thaiyar, Srinivas Vadrevu and Swami Venkataramani of Arizona State University created Holding Hands, a system designed to assist the physically disabled, such as the blind, in becoming more independent in their daily lives. Using RFID technology, a mobile device with Holding Hands can help individuals learn more about their surroundings. Both teams received a cash reward of $2,000.
The Imagine Cup, now in its second year, is a programming competition designed to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom, according to Microsoft. More than 10,000 students from over 90 countries competed in the four Imagine Cup 2004 invitationals, including software design, rendering, algorithm and short film. Within the United States 650 students from more than 75 top research and technical universities competed in the software design invitational.
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