This morning I walked out of my hotel and headed towards the glistening heart of New York City, Time Square. Upon my arrival at the Marriot Marquis, the first thing that hit me was the bustling atmosphere inside. Students from over 70 countries have come to New York to win this year’s Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals.  All the students proudly display their common purpose by wearing a baby blue t-shirt that boldly states “Change the world”.

What does that statement mean to the students? Let’s hear from them: 

If it were possible to create a more vibrant atmosphere than Time Square then the finalists have done so inside of the Marriot where the 21 teams left in the final round are presenting their solution to solving some of the world’s toughest problems to a panel of judges for the last time before the winners are announced. Here are just a few examples of today’s presentations:

Team “Give me 4” of France lit up the stage with their Embedded Development concept presentation, LinkTV. LinkTV was designed to therapeutically help elderly people with feelings of isolation and loneliness by providing an easy to use connection to the outside world through technology. 

Team Give Me 4 members Edgard Ghislain Mbayen, Franck Achkouyan, Thomas Guillard, and Mouham’mad Chafi Cassim entertain “grandma” with text messages and photos sent straight to her TV screen.

Team Oasys from Jordan were inspired to build their Software design idea, Project Horizon, by a friend of theirs who suffered massive damage in a car accident, leaving her quadriplegic. Project Horizon helps disabled people, who suffer from the inability to hands or limbs, to connect to computer technology and the internet, and digital communication.

Team Oasys consists of Monir Abu Hilal, Mohammad Azzam IV, Hani AbuHuwaij, and Yousef Wadi.

As the Imagine Cup builds to a crescendo, the passion of these students from around the world coupled with their creativity in addressing tough social issues with technology has created a truly unique event, with a unique atmosphere.

Stay tuned to find out who will win in their respective divisions- tomorrow you can watch a live Webcast of the Imagine Cup World Festival & Awards Ceremony featuring special guests Eva Longoria and Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Good luck to all of the Imagine Cup Finalists!