Presentation Transcript

1. US Competitor OverviewRandy Guthrie – Microsoft Academic Developer Evanglist
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. 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
21. QUESTIONS?