Microsoft Gulf Image Cup Winners Announced

Press release:
Microsoft Gulf today announced the regional winners of the Gulf Imagine Cup 2010 after an intense competition amongst university student team finalists from the Gulf region. The three member team from the American University of Kuwait celebrated their first-place finish in the regional finals for their project ‘Multi-touch tutoring system’. The second place went to the team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman for their project ‘Show me the traffic; the third runner-up was the team from University of Bahrain for their project ‘Cash Trash’ and the fourth place went to the team from University of Wollongong, Dubai for their project ‘Ear-It’. In addition, another team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman was declared as the winner of  the mobile application development category for their project ‘Find me a taxi’ supported by du. All four winning teams will represent the region and participate at the global finals of the Imagine Cup that is being held in Warsaw, Poland from July 3-8, 2010.

The American University of Kuwait team named ‘M.A.A’ developed a project titled ‘Multi-touch tutoring system for the physically challenged’. The solution is an educational software that uses markers and web-cams as methods for physically disable people to interact with computers. The initial prototype was tested in Kuwait schools and includes lessons for English, Math, Shapes and Science. Ten well known varsities from across the Gulf participated in the regional finals – five from UAE; one from Bahrain; two from Oman and two from Kuwait.

American University of Kuwait - Winners of the regional Imagine Cup

Ehab Mostafa, Country Manager, Microsoft Kuwait said, “Microsoft is committed to supporting Kuwaiti youth and guiding the way towards the development of a digital knowledge economy in the country. We congratulate the team from American University of Kuwait and are very pleased with the high levels of technical innovation that these students have achieved through their project. Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world problems. This competition is about more than just creating software and gadgets; it’s about inspiring the next generation of technology and business leaders.”

Now in its eight year, the Imagine Cup encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that are focused on finding solutions to real world problems. Each team had fifteen minutes to present their work to a panel of judges comprising of senior members from the enterprise and government sectors. This year’s event was supported by du telecom and Information Technology Authority (ITA) Oman.

“We are very proud of our students and excited to represent the university and the Gulf at the finals” said the team’s mentor, Dr. Amir Zeid from the American University of Kuwait. “We believe Imagine Cup is an excellent platform to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom. We commend Microsoft for giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and help them to realize their potential.”

As the world’s premier student technology competition, the Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s initiative to encourage young people to apply their imagination and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference and address real-world issues.