REDMOND, Wash. – April 16, 2013 - Microsoft today announced the 13 teams who are advancing to the 11 th annual Imagine Cup U.S. Finals , the world’s premier student technology competition, honoring student technology innovations that address the world’s toughest problems. The U.S. Finals...

Taking an app from an idea to an actual functioning prototype is a huge step in the journey of a startup. It's likely that entrepreneurs with a game changing idea won’t face their biggest challenge executing code. Rather, paring down the concept to exactly what’s needed to deliver on a vision...

Developers sometimes feel that when it comes to their career they have a choice to make: build solutions for the greater good or focus on bringing home the bacon. We don’t think you have to choose one or the other, and we tracked down last year’s Imagine Cup winners to prove our point for...

Last week Microsoft announced the opening of the 2013 Imagine Cup . This year there are thee competition and three challenges for students to enter. The prizes are larger as well with a top prize for each of the three competition being $50,000 (USD) and each of the challenges having a top prize of $10...

I wish I could be in two places at once, but it was physically impossible for me to be in Australia for the Worldwide Imagine Cup finals. More than 350 students from 75 countries met in Sydney last week to present their technology projects that tackle humanitarian issues including health, accessibility...

I didn’t have much to say last week so I decided not to say much on the blog. I also took a couple of days off the end of the week. Fortunately a lot of other people had a lot to say and I have a good store of links to share with you. I hope you’ll read though all of them as I am sure you’ll find something...

The 2012 Imagine Cup is now history for most teams. A few are still involved as they are on their way to Sydney Australia for the world wide finals this July. So far that includes FlashFood who will be representing the US in the Software design invitational. Congratulations to them. We know they will...

I’ve been in Redmond WA at Microsoft’s headquarters since last Friday for the US Finals of the Imagine Cup. The picture on the left is me with team Digital Infinity, the one high school team competing with university  students. (You can still vote for them in the People’s Choice voting until May...

I need a favor. A small favor. I need people to click this link and go vote for the Imagine Cup People’s Choice awards . Yes I am trying to get more people to use my link to get to the voting site so I can win a prize. Evil I know. BUT what I’d also like you to do is seriously think about voting for...

The voting is now open for the US Imagine Cup People’s Choice award . You can visit the web site on Facebook and view profiles of the 22 teams who are attending the US Finals and select your favorite. All the teams are great and or course made their way through a rigorous selection process. We had more...

Today, I’m excited to have the opportunity to be in Chicago with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard, and City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Cheryl Hyman, as they announce the creation five new Early College STEM Schools that will focus on technology skills and career...

The Imagine Cup series of competitions has a new round of deadlines coming up over the next two weeks. The good news is that the barriers to entry in most of these is low enough that students still have time to get their act together and enter. The Kinect Fun Labs Challenge and the Windows Metro Style...

Randy Guthrie wrote a long information packed post about Key Imagine Cup 2012 Dates Approaching in the very near future. If you or your students are entering the Imagine Cup I highly recommend you read Randy’s post or at least visit the Imagine Cup site to verify that you have the correct dates in mind...

The Imagine Cup just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Today two more challenges were announced via the Imagine Cup blog ( Microsoft Announces Windows Metro Style App and Kinect Fun Labs Challenges for Imagine Cup 2012 ). One challenge is specifically for Kinect applications while the other is for Windows...

October is reaching its end which means its come time to announce our next Tech Student of the Month! This month, we are pleased to highlight Shashank Srinivas, a striving scholar at Arizona State University and a member of Team Note-Taker , the second place winners of the 2011 Microsoft Imagine Cup...

One of the things that often makes Imagine Cup entries a good educational experience is that they require planning and team work. A good Imagine Cup entry is seldom a one person project. Many universities use the Imagine Cup, especially the Software Design event, as senior projects. The Game Event makes...

  Last week I attended part of SIEGE 2011 ( Southern Interactive Entertainment & Game Expo ) in Atlanta Georgia. Before the main part of the conference started the conference hosted hundreds of high school and middle school students for a college open house and presentations on a variety of...

Solving the world’s great problems! Changing the world for the better. Giving students projects that not only allow them to show what they know but do something good for the world. All of these are part and parcel of the Imagine Cup. The US Imagine Cup website is updated and ready for the 2012 season...

(cross-posted from the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog ) STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. STEM education is not only critical for preparing our future doctors, researchers, rocket scientists and game designers, it’s becoming more important for every type of...

The old adage “knowledge is power” is an agreed upon theorem in our society. With the increasing tuition hikes on students, the barrier to entry in formal education can send the wrong message that only those with a lot of money can be educated, ergo “power is power”. Can this...

Many of the best projects that are entered in the Imagine Cup are inspired by real people solving problems that have deep meaning for the project team. For some it is a family member or friend who suffered a great loss. For others it is a personal commitment to their local community. For others it is...

Ever dream of being an entrepreneur but need to know how to get started? The “VC Panel” at the Microsoft Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals, held in NYC last month, was a practical how-to session on starting a company, and getting funding. The event connected student teams with investors, entrepreneurs...

If you had the chance to change the world, what would YOU Imagine? Meet David Hayden, a recent graduate of Arizona State University. Legally blind—David was having so much trouble taking notes in his new Math major, that he was close to failing. Instead, he decided to take matters into his...

Quite a week last week. You may have read my posts about the CSTA CS & IT Conference. I hope you did because it was a great conference. The first ever WorldWide Imagine Cup finals to be held in the US was held in New York City at the same time. You ...read more

At 4pm last night in NYC’s Lincoln Center, a packed auditorium waves flags, cheered, and impatiently waited for Microsoft’s Jon Perera, General Manager of the Education Group, to take the stage and kick off the finals. The U.S.A. teams, sitting together next to Microsoft executives’...