Four students from the Valley View University have been rewarded for their efforts as the only entrants in this year?s Microsoft Ghana Imagine Cup competition held in Accra.
The students — Davies Tobi Alex, Eyisi Kenechukwu, Oluwa Tomisin Alex and Dieudonne Shyirakera — making up the group called Codeplex went home with products from Microsoft.
Though 12 teams from different universities in Ghana registered to contest, only the Codeplex group was able to upload their app to qualify for participation in the international competition.
Contesting in the ?Innovation? category, team Codeplex designed an interactive device that among others allows people to send a speech signal to a computer that then responds appropriately. The team will now have to successfully upload their work during the international application stage to stand a chance of representing Ghana at the Imagine Cup worldwide finals in St. Petersburg, Russia, in July 2013.
?The Imagine Cup is more than a competition. As part of Microsoft?s YouthSpark initiative, it is a way for young entrepreneurs, innovators and developers to have the opportunity to develop an idea, create a product, set a clear business plan and even take their product to market,? said Yinka Oni , National Technology Officer for Microsoft Anglophone West Africa.
?We?re proud to honour these young students who we believe truly exemplify the spirit of the Imagine Cup competition, and we?ll be cheering team Codeplex on as they compete on the world stage in St. Petersburg.?
Team Codeplex said: ?We are speechless. To have won the competition (technically) — and to have the opportunity to represent our country at the Worldwide Imagine Cup alongside some of the brightest young minds — is an honour. And we?re thrilled to have the opportunity to compete with students from around the globe who, like us, are passionate about making a difference in the world.?
All Imagine Cup worldwide finalist teams are eligible to apply for an Imagine Cup Grant, a three-year US$3million investment by Microsoft to help students turn their ideas into reality. Microsoft BizSpark, another YouthSpark initiative, enables Imagine Cup participants to launch startup businesses in their communities and across the web.
?Imagine Cup is also directly aligned with the ?Microsoft 4Afrika? Initiative that was launched earlier this year, as it drives access to technology, innovation and world-class skills. We believe deeply that technology can accelerate growth for Africa, and Africa can also accelerate technology for the world; and we are honoured to engage with these young people to help bring their innovative ideas to fruition,? said Oni.
Sharing his thoughts on the project by Microsoft, Alfred Priddy of Hatua Solutions, said: ?We are extremely happy to be part of this historic and creative initiative. Joining hands to provide solutions to worldwide problems is a giant step in the right direction. We are looking forward to building innovative minds that will impact not only our continent, but our world in general.?
More than 1.65 million students across the globe have participated in Imagine Cup during the past decade, creating applications and games that address the world?s toughest social problems.
The 2013 competition builds on the core elements that have been most popular with students in the past 10 years — social impact and gaming — while expanding the competition?s focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.
As an example of the type of real-world solutions the Imagine Cup judges are looking for, the 2012 winners of the Software Design Competition Team, quadSquad from the Ukraine, developed a device that uses a pair of gloves equipped with 15 flex sensors and a microcontroller to continuously recognise sign-language patterns.
These patterns are then transmitted via Bluetooth to a Windows Phone device that uses the Microsoft Speech API and Bing API to translate the sign into audio. With its victory, the team won US$25,000.
Like Team Gravity from Obafemi Awolowo University that represented Nigeria at the Worldwide Finals in Australia last year, the 2013 competitors will gain real-life experience, make new friends, and harness the power of technology to take on the world?s toughest problems.
By Bernard Yaw ASHIADEY
