Microsoft Imagine Cup

The Imagine Cup is a technology competition hosted by Microsoft. Falling in line with Bill Gates' humanitarianism, the primary objective is to essentially save the world with innovative game play or software development.

A daunting task, no doubt, but who doesn't want to be a superhero?

It sounds a bit less ridiculous after viewing the goals set in place, which are based on the United Nations 2015 projected Millennium Development Goals. Joining the fight against the plight of others not only helps you grow as a developer, but also enlightens you and your audience on topics that are often overlooked and taken for granted in our modern society.

Best of all, it puts a spotlight on you, your ideas, and your abilities for Industry legends.

As it is a Microsoft-sponsored battle, projects are to be built with either XNA 4.0 or Silverlight, both C# based, for the Windows 7 phone (which has copy/paste abilities, as all employees will tell you when you ask for a company 'secret'), Xbox Live, or Internet Explorer.

Sadly development on the Kinect is not available (ahem, legally), but there has been talk about future development.

Entering is easy; teams can have up to four members, who must be currently enrolled students of at least 16 years of age. You are not required to be enrolled in a Game Design specific course (my team has a 17-year-old high school student), just at least one class with a legitimate school. If you fit this criteria, I highly recommend checking out their US Imagine Cup website for more in-depth details.

This competition isn't always serious, though. Put in the hard work, and they pay for your travel to the Finals, board, and a nice chunk of cash to enjoy yourself a little.

A previous USA-champion team from my school, Central Piedmont Community College, had a nerd-binge before the finals in D.C. and rented Segways to wander around the city cackling like the mildly crazy people they are. Their goal was simple, beat Yale, the ultimate first place runner-up.

Yes, he did run down the aisle with his arms out for high fives and proceeded to flex his muscles on the stage; which, he had every right to. Their game, Sixth (one out of six people currently live in a slum), is about a 12 year old boy living in the slums of India trying to find clean water and food for his family to survive, and it is fun to play. They found the proper balance between preaching and teaching, and were rewarded for it.

Another group, the only all-female group to win First Runners Up at the USA finals in Software Design, created a phone-based application to remind HIV/AIDs patients to take their medication to prevent drug-resistant strain mutations.



The current world champ is a game called Wildfire, by Team By Implication, which encompassed all the objectives in their premise that all world issues can be conquered by people working together. It's available for download and play, so feel free to give it a whirl.

If you are interested in entering your name into the fray, check out the Imagine Cup website or your local Microsoft Academic Evangelist (For NC it's Ed Donahue (ed.donahue@microsoft.com)). It is an awesome opportunity, win or lose, to expand your knowledge and networking base as well as some real-world project/deadline experience.

The first round ends this Tuesday, but new applicants can still submit for round two of judging.


Hurry up and make your mark on history as a positive influence on the world!
(The 25,000 dollar prize plus bragging rights don't hurt either.)