Young techies showcase talent at 'Imagine Cup'

Agra, Aug 7: With an objective to create a world where technology enables a better life, students from 42 countries, were pitted against each other in a software competition 'Imagine Cup-2006' finals organised by IT major Microsoft here.

Over 200 students are participating in the mega event to ] showcase their skills for a prize of 1,25,000 dollars.

The annual competition, which requires the students to apply their creativity, knowledge and technical abilities for making the world a better place, aims to encourage young innovators to develop applications that are relevant in today's context.

''Our sole aim is to unlock innovations in the technology skills.

We are simply acting as a facilitator and providing a better platform to these students, '' Microsoft Director of Academic Initiatives Joe Wilson told reporters here.

The successful candidates will be able to get themselves attached with the British Telecom for further orientation and upgrading their skills, Microsoft India Director, developer and platform evangelism Shiela Gulati said.

The participants will be competing in six different categories including software design, interface design, algorithm, IT, Project Hoshimi (Programming battle) and short films.

In addition, the teams will also be asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to multimedia and technology depending on the environment.

India is being represented by team 'Sonique' with Deepak Jagdish, Mohit Gupta, Rahul Sawhney, Shreyas Nangia from the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT).

The team has created a solution for enabling blind people to dynamically move around and perceive their surroundings, inspired by the echo-location technique used by bats to sense the environment.

Moreover, Mohit Bhargava and Mitushi Jain (Avenger's team) from Ambedkar Institute Of Technology (Guru Gobind Singh Inderprastha University) and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) respectively are participating in the Interface Designer category.

Winners in each category will give their presentations in New Delhi on August 11 before declaration of the final results.

The Imagine Cup, in its fourth year has been designed to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom.

The next destination for the software competition would be Korea, carrying a theme of education awareness among all.

UNI