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US Competitor Overview Bradley K. Jensen, Ph.D. – Senior Academic Relationship Manager

US Competitor Overview Bradley K. Jensen, Ph.D. – Senior Academic Relationship Manager. Agenda. What is the Imagine Cup? Why should I compete? What is the commitment? What if I don’t know a required technology? Mentors and sponsors Competition schedule Best practices.

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US Competitor Overview Bradley K. Jensen, Ph.D. – Senior Academic Relationship Manager

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  1. US Competitor OverviewBradley K. Jensen, Ph.D. – Senior Academic Relationship Manager

  2. Agenda • What is the Imagine Cup? • Why should I compete? • What is the commitment? • What if I don’t know a required technology? • Mentors and sponsors • Competition schedule • Best practices

  3. What is the Imagine Cup?

  4. Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 • International Computer technology competition • Five competitions & six special awards • Students enrolled in accredited academic institutions • Teams from 1 – 4 students + mentor + sponsor • Mentor get travel paid to US/World finals • Theme: “Imagine a World where Technology helps Solves the Worlds Toughest Problems • Heath, education, environment, hunger, equality, etc.

  5. Competitions Challenges (tbd) Envisioning 2020 WW Software Design Interop WW Game Design WW Next Gen Web WW XNA Windows/XBOX WP7 WW Mobile Zune/WP7 IE 9 Web (Silverlight) WW Embedded WW IT Challenge WW Media WW

  6. Why Should You Compete?

  7. Reasons to compete • Substitute for live client in Senior Capstone course • External feedback • Contest participation big resume differentiator • Competition provides broad learning opportunity • Presentation skills, business partnership, entrepreneurship • Finalists get huge career boost • PR, exposure to recruiters, start-up funding • Prizes • $$, travel, more PR, professional connections • Save the world

  8. Imagine Cup 2010 PR Results Topline US Finals Results WW Finals Results Highlights BillGates: Imagine Cup, one of my favorite student programming events - regional finals today on way to world finals in Poland - http://bit.ly/azQIPg “Play to Learn – Microsoft hopes to change how kids use computers”

  9. What is the commitment? • Business plan • Software / hardware invention development • Presentation video • Travel time to US/World finals (paid by Microsoft)

  10. How do I learn Microsoft’s tech?

  11. Free Microsoft Resources • Free software from MSDNAA (via your school) • Free software via http://www.dreamspark.com • Learning links on http://www.imaginecup.com • Free online training IT Academy Suite (via MSDNAA) • Imagine Cup guides @ http://www.mis-laboratory.com/Student • Live on-campus workshops by Microsoft

  12. Mentor & Sponsors

  13. Mentors and Sponsors • Mentor • Typically a faculty member • Provides guidance and support to the student team • Can contribute in any way that could result in a valid IP claim on the team’s project • Leverages campus resources to help the team • Sponsor • Typically someone from local industry • Provides domain expertise • Technical expertise • Knowledge of the problem space • May provide other resources • Hardware, funding, • Cannot contribute to the project in a way that could create a claim against the project IP

  14. Key Dates

  15. IC Key Dates

  16. Finalist Ideas from the past couple years • Touch smart board app that is easy for teachers to create learning content • System the collect air samples and reports quality on a map • Facebook app that enables people to give microcredit loans • Mobile phone eye exam app & hardware mod • Crime reporting app using GPS and map software

  17. Finalist Ideas from the past couple years • Spelling game that teaches words in other languages • Vaccination info database and id device • Automobile text message disabling device • Tablet PC app & camera to help partially-sighted students • Software system to help autistic children enjoy road trips • Blog & Web news agent that can monitor changes in sentiment on a given subjecct

  18. Best Practices?

  19. Best Practices • Multi-Disciplinary Teams • Art/ User Interface Design / Video Production • Business Plan / Marketing / Spokesperson • Technical • Technical • Register & submit drafts early • Video should be very-high quality (its how project get judged) • External review of content • Mentor, sponsor, mock judging panel

  20. Actions to Take ASAP • Talk to your friends; form a tentative team (you can change team members later) • Create a team name you don’t mind being used by the press • Have each member individually-register on http://imaginecup.us • Please use real first/last names; makes sure the school name and state is accurate, and you enter an e-mail that you check frequently • Have your team “captain” create the team and invite the others • Select a mentor; ask them to register on http://imaginecup.us • Invite the mentor to join your team (mentors can join more than one team) • Rough out your business plan and submit it ASAP to the Round 1 to test everythingyou can always resubmit to guarantee participation in Round 2

  21. Resources http://blogs.msdn.com/MIS_Laboratory Imagine Cup US Competition Imagine Cup World Wide Competition Windows Phone 7 Developer Resources Windows Azure Developer Resources Randy.guthrie@microsoft.com

  22. Questions?

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