Microsoft Awards Imagine Cup Grants to Jumpstart Student Startups
That Address Social Issues
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.,
Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At
the Social Innovation Summit today, Microsoft Corp. announced the
winners of the second annual Microsoft Imagine Cup Grants program,
a three-year, $3 million competitive
grant program that provides students with funding and support to
help transform their projects into social enterprises or nonprofits
that will address a specific social issue. The Imagine Cup Grants
program is part of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative, which aims
to create opportunities for 300 million youth during the next three
years.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
The grand prize grant of $100,000
was awarded to Team Graphmasters from Germany for its solution called nunav that
reduces vehicle carbon emissions through an innovative navigation
system. The second place grant of $75,000 went to Team StethoCloud from
Australia, which developed a
solution to diagnose childhood pneumonia. There were also grants of
$50,000 to Team Vivid from
Egypt, which built a mobile app to
access medical records using the cloud; Team Cipher256 from
Uganda for its mobile app and
listening device to analyze fetal heart rates; and Team QuadSquad
from Ukraine, which created a
solution that transforms sign language into verbal communication.
The teams used technologies including Windows 8, Windows Azure,
Windows Phone, Bing Maps and more.
"The Imagine Cup Grants will help students evolve a great idea
for addressing a societal issue into a real-world business," said
Dan'l Lewin, corporate vice president, Strategic and Emerging
Business Development, Microsoft. "These students have developed
incredible approaches that show great potential for positive local
impact. We are excited to offer financial and other support to help
them transform these ideas into businesses with real-world
impact."
The grant winners were among the finalists at the Imagine Cup
2012 Worldwide Finals, a global competition that invites students
to develop a technology, create a business plan and gain a keen
understanding of what they need to bring their concepts to market.
The Imagine Cup Grants program takes the competition further,
helping students turn their ideas into reality by creating a real
business or nonprofit. As part of Microsoft YouthSpark, the Imagine
Cup Grants program is one way Microsoft is helping young people
pursue an education, find employment and foster
entrepreneurship.
"The Imagine Cup was the catalyst for our team to create nunav,"
said Christian Bruggemann, Team
Graphmasters. "Through the Imagine Cup Grants, Microsoft is giving
us the opportunity to expand our project and bring it to market. As
mobile phone adoption becomes more prevalent around the world, it
presents a perfect way for nunav to help fight traffic and carbon
emissions."
In addition to the cash awards, the grant packages include
software, cloud computing services, solution provider support,
premium Microsoft BizSpark account benefits and access to local
resources such as Microsoft Innovation Centers. Microsoft will
also connect grant recipients with its network of investors,
nongovernmental organization partners and business partners and
will work with the grant recipients to tailor individual support as
needed depending on the progress each team has made so far with its
project.
Imagine Cup Grants Award Winners
- Team Graphmasters, Germany. Christian
Bruggemann, Sebastian Heise
and Iulian Nitescu. Project
description: nunav is a navigation system with the potential to
reduce vehicle carbon emissions by preventing traffic congestion.
The system proactively routes city traffic by calculating the best
route for each car and communicating that information to each
driver. Team video: http://bit.ly/RWjVN6
- Team StethoCloud, Australia. Hon
Weng Chong, Andrew Lin,
Mahsa Salehi and Karthik Rajah.
Project description: StethoCloud is a cloud-powered, mobile-hybrid
stethoscope for early detection of pneumonia. By connecting a
custom stethoscope to a mobile phone, the user is able to transmit
diagnostic information into a cloud service, reproducing the
diagnostic capability of a trained medical doctor. Team video:
http://bit.ly/PWCcKy
- Team Vivid, Egypt.
Nour El-Dien Hussein, Muhammed Mousa El-Orabi and Fady Fawzy Rafla.
Project description: Health Buzz is a cost-effective mobile-based
solution that helps healthcare service providers access patients'
electronic medical records through a secure cloud-based storage
system. It services patients and physicians through a phone, tablet
or desktop computer. Team video: http://bit.ly/T4PJAt
- Team Cipher256, Uganda. Aaron
Tushabe, Joshua Okello, Dr.
Davis Musinguzi, Josiah Kavuma and Joseph
Kaizzi. Project description: WinSenga is a mobile
application that aids health workers as they assist expectant
mothers. The algorithm analyzes fetal heart sounds to determine the
fetal heart rate (beats per minute) and the age and position of the
fetus and then records these readings to the cloud. Team video:
http://bit.ly/Us89qS
- Team QuadSquad, Ukraine. Maxim
Osika, Valeriy Yasakov, Anton
Stepanov, Anton Posternikov and Dmytro Samoilenko. Project description: Enable
Talk was created to give disabled individuals with limited
communication abilities a better way to communicate. It transforms
sign language into a form of verbal communication by creating a
mobile device that continuously recognizes sign language phonemes.
Team video: http://bit.ly/UIDx4E
This year, more than 40 Imagine Cup teams applied for the
grants. A judging panel of industry experts with knowledge spanning
technology, venture capitalism, software development, startup
culture and the nonprofit sector ranked each team based on specific
criteria, including project impact and viability and team quality
and motivation. The judges included the following:
- Akhtar Badshah, senior
director of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft
- Daniel Brusilovsky,
founder and CEO, Teens in Tech Labs
- Tim Draper, founder and
managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
- Debra Dunn, faculty,
Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford; board of directors, Skoll Foundation and
B Lab
- Edward G. Happ, global
chief information officer of International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, chairman of NetHope
- Tadhg Kelly, game design
consultant
- Zeev Klein, general
partner, Landmark Ventures
- Dan'l Lewin, corporate vice president, Strategic and
Emerging Business Development, Microsoft
- Rob Miles, lecturer,
University of Hull Computer Science Department
- Jeff Raikes, CEO, Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation
- Ann Winblad, managing
director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
About Microsoft YouthSpark
Microsoft YouthSpark is a global initiative that aims to create
opportunities for 300 million youth in more than 100 countries
during the next three years. This companywide initiative includes
Citizenship and other company programs — both new and enhanced —
that empower youth to imagine and realize their full potential by
connecting them with greater opportunities for education,
employment and entrepreneurship. Find out more at:
http://www.microsoft.com/youthspark.
About Microsoft Imagine Cup
This year marks the 11th year of Imagine Cup, which will be
celebrated at the worldwide finals in St.
Petersburg, Russia, July 8–12, 2013. Students ages 16 and
older are eligible to register and compete in Imagine Cup 2013 by
visiting the Imagine Cup website at http://www.imaginecup.com. A
full list of competitions and challenges are listed at
http://imaginecup.com/main/compete. In the past decade, more than
1.65 million students from 190 countries have registered to compete
for cash and other prizes.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realize their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.