Microsoft Announces Imagine Cup 2007 Winners

Thailand team named software design champions; torch passes to France for Imagine Cup 2008.

SEOUL, South Korea.— Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of Imagine Cup 2007, after a week of intense competition among finalists chosen from a pool of more than 100,000 students from over 100 countries. Prachaya Phaisanwiphatpong, Vasan Chienmaneetaweesin, Jatupon Sukkasem, Pathompol Saeng-Uraiporn from Thailand’s Team 3KC Returns/Project LiveBook! celebrated their first-place finish in the worldwide Software Design Invitational and were awarded a $25,000 cash prize. Imagine Cup, the world’s premier competition for technology students, gives students the chance to unlock their creative genius and build solutions that tackle real-world issues facing society today.

“Imagine Cup provides a forum for university students around the world to explore new ways to use the power of software to help address some of the world’s toughest problems,” said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. “The high caliber of the students and their projects is an indication of their potential to become great business and technology leaders, and a hint at how a new generation of innovations can have a lasting and transformative impact on education and beyond.”

The 55 software design finalist teams created applications using the Microsoft® platform and Microsoft tools based on the Imagine Cup competition theme: “Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all.”

A total of 344 students from 112 teams representing 59 countries and regions were ultimately selected to participate in worldwide Imagine Cup finals in nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Web Development, Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle), IT Challenge, Algorithm, Photography, Short Film and Interface Design. The student teams were asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to multimedia or technology depending on the invitational.

The winners were announced in a gala awards ceremony earlier this afternoon during the Imagine Cup World Festival, a celebration drawing Imagine Cup competitors, mentors and other key attendees. It featured keynote addresses from dignitaries including Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, assistant director-general for Communication and Information at UNESCO. “Imagine Cup is truly a global contest of software creation, capturing not only the spirit of competition, but also the broader goal of tackling development challenges through innovation,” Khan said. “We recognize the importance of developing ICT expertise among young people throughout the world. By challenging students to develop working solutions to development challenges, Imagine Cup allows new ideas and new economic opportunities to flourish.”

The following are the top three finalists by invitational in finishing order:

Software Design
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First place: Thailand — Team 3KC Returns/Project LiveBook!
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Prachaya Phaisanwiphatpong, Vasan Chienmaneetaweesin, Jatupon Sukkasem, Pathompol Saeng-Uraiporn
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Second place: Korea — Team En#605/Project Finger Code
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Lim Chan-kyu, Min Kyoung-hoon, Lim Byoung-su, Jeong Ji-hyeon
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Third place: Jamaica — Team ICAD/Project CADI
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Imran Allie, Conroy Smith, Ayson Baxter, Damion Mitchell

Embedded Development
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First place: Brazil — Team TriventDreams ED
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Carlos Eduardo Rodriques, Andrew Wilson Furtado, Ivan Cordeiro Cardim
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Second place: Romania — Team Aether
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Alexandru Vranescu, Bogdan Tanasa, Ionel Vuza, Bogdan Holmanu
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Third place: China — Team SEED
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Huning Dai, Zhou Xue, Ziqing Ye, Dai Tang

Web Development
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First place: France — Team APB
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Benjamin Talmard, Thomas Albisser, Pierrick Blons, Sebastien Lam
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Second place: Ireland — Team Red Dawn
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Mohammed Al-Tahs, Marouf Azad
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Third place: China — Team Frontfree Studio-Web
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Jiasheng Guo, Weining Sha, Xia Xiao, Zhenda Zhao

Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle)
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First place: Argentina — Team OIA
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Pablo Gauna, Nicolás Rodríguez Vilela
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Second place: France — Team Arenium
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Laure Portet, Régis Hanol
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Third place: Serbia — Team vladan.simov
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Vladan Simov

IT Challenge
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First place: China — Zhifeng Chen
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Second place: France — Romain Larmet
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Third place: Romania — Ilie Cosmin Viorel

Algorithm
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First place: Poland — Przemyslaw Debiak
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Second place: Ukraine — Roman Koshlyak
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Third place: Hungary — Szilveszter Szebeni

Photography
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First place: Poland — Team Maraqja
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Iwona Bielecka, Malgorzata Lopaciuk
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Second place: Croatia — Team Black and White
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Aleksandar Kordić, Igor Matoša
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Third place: Canada — Team Awesome
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Patrick Struys, Ryan Marr

Short Film
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First place: Poland — Team Skylined
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Julia Górniewicz, Jacek Barcikowski
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Second place: Taiwan — Team Circle
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Chang Hao-Jan, Chang Shu-Wei, Tseng Yen-Chi, Lin Di-Er
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Third place: Brazil — Team Papa
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Paçoca Alexandre Nacari, Arthur de Pádua, Felipe Pellisser, Wendel Yokoyama

Interface Design
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First place: Austria — Team OOT Graphics
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Verena Lugmayr, Claudia Oster
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Second place: China — Team Frontfree Studio UI
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Dongjing Yao, Yushi Ma
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Third place: France — Team Atomnium
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Manon Gaucher, Flavien Charlon

Imagine Cup, now in its fifth year, challenges students to imagine a better world enabled by their own talent and also to contribute directly to the future of technology, software and computing. Teams develop innovative technological and artistic projects aligned to a social cause each year. In addition, Imagine Cup complements Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential commitment to create social and economic opportunity through programs and products that transform education, foster local innovation, and enable jobs and opportunities worldwide.

France will host Imagine Cup 2008 in Paris. The theme will be “Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment.”

More information about Imagine Cup and Microsoft Unlimited Potential can be found at http://www.imaginecup.com and http://www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential.