Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia, Microsoft RA and USAID’s Enterprise Development and Market Competitiveness (EDMC) project have organized the Final Round and the Awards Ceremony of Imagine Cup Armenia 2012 contest of innovative ideas.
The Imagine Cup Armenia finals was held on 2 May 2012 at 11.00 am at Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia (105 Teryan Street, State Engineering University of Armenia, building # 10, 6th floor).
The seven finalists who were shortlisted as a result of the first stage of the contest briefly presented their ideas through presentations (15 minutes for each team) and demonstration. The jury composed of ICT, education and public sectors key representatives selected the winning team who will represent Armenia in the worldwide finals in Sydney, Australia, on July 6-12, 2012.
The Awards Ceremony during which the organizers announced the winners took place on the same day (2 May 2012), at 7.00 pm, at Golden Tulip Yerevan Hotel. Mr. Armen Ashotyan, Minister of Education and Science, as well as a number of ICT, private sector, educational and non-government organizations’ representatives were present at the event.
Winners of the Imagine cup Armenia 2012 are:
- First place: mLab team
They presented a solution aimed at checking the quality of water and collecting statistic data which will be available for other users worldwide.
- Second place: The Insanely Great Team
They presented an anti-counterfeit system suggesting that producers include a secret code in the label of the product to allow a two-step verification of the product by the buyer.
- Third place: RAU team
They presented Windows phone application which will identify the dangerous additives in the food products and provide information to the buyer.
The Imagine Cup is an annual worldwide student technology competition focused around Microsoft technologies and encouraging young people to apply their imagination, their passion, and their creativity to develop technological solutions that can make a difference in the world. The competition has been running for 10 years now. The Imagine Cup has grown to more than 350,000 registered students from over 183 countries. Through this competition, Microsoft Corporation challenges students to unite their efforts and latest technology and engage in addressing global issues stipulated in the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Imagine Cup Armenia has been held since 2007. This year, MIC Armenia has received the highest number of applications in the history of Armenian Imagine Cup. The teams in the final round propose to create solutions tackling such global issues as quality of drinking water, combating various diseases, child mortality, child safety, counterfeiting, etc.
The Selection Process
For the first time this year the selection of the contest was conducted in two stages. On 13 March 2012 the jury selected 7 (seven) finalists from among 20 teams. In order to ensure raised awareness, as well as to enhance the quality of applications that comply with the contest standards, the organizers held informative briefings at higher educational institutions and arranged various meetings with the students and industry experts. The teams were also provided with technical and consultancy support.