Italy, Brazil, France top 3 teams of Microsoft Imagine Cup

New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) All the top six slots in Microsoft's Imagine Cup 2006 contest held in Agra recently, went into the kitty of foreign contestants while India, the global software hub, managed only a third position in the Interface design category.

Microsoft today announced the winners of the contest which saw the participation of 72 teams across 42 countries in six categories, chosen from a pool of more than 65,000 students from over 100 countries.

Giorgio Sardo, Massimo Paternoster, Silvia Perrone and Andrea Sossich of Team Even .ctor from Polytechnic of Turin (Italy), clinched the first position in the worldwide Software Design invitational and were awarded a 25,000 dollar cash prize.

Teams from Brazil and Norway were adjudged the second and third position respectively in this category. The cash prize for this category was 15,000 dollars and 8,000 dollars respectively.

Speaking at the event, Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said, ''I am so delighted to be amidst some of the brightest young minds from across the globe. In them I see the future, the next phase of technology revolution, and the desire to make the world a better place not just for themselves but for others too.

The Imagine Cup, Microsoft's competition for technology students, provides a forum to encourage creative and technological innovations among university students worldwide.

A total of 181 students from 72 teams representing 42 countries were selected to participate in the worldwide Imagine Cup finals in six categories -- Software Design, Algorithm, IT, Short Film, Interface Design and Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle).

The student teams were asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to multimedia or technology depending on the invitational.

The six teams comprising Italy, Brazil, Norway, China, Germany andf Croatia have also been awarded in-depth business and technology training as part of the Imagine Cup Innovator Programme, to be co-sponsored by Microsoft Corporation and British Telecom.

''The contest is inspiring a new generation of technology leaders to apply their imagination and skills to make a difference in the world,'' Microsoft VP Developer and Platform Evangelism Sanjay Parthasarathy said.

Teams from Poland grabbed all the three positions in the Algorithm category while teams from Austria, Romania and France were adjudged first, second and third position in the IT category.

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