VCU news

By Anne Buckley

A team of Virginia Commonwealth University students won first place in the 2006 Microsoft Corp.’s annual Imagine Cup software design competition for the second year in a row and will represent the United States in the worldwide competition later this year.

The Software Design Invitational of Imagine Cup 2006, Microsoft's premier competition for technology students, provides a stage for the creative and technological innovations of students worldwide. The competition was held May 4 through May 6 in Redmond, Wash.

The VCU team included William Calder, Joanne Cunningham, A. Brooks Hollar and Brandon Saunders, all graduate students in the VCU School of Engineering's Department of Computer Science. The team won for PocketDoc, an application that runs on mobile devices and actively links doctors and patients in a collaborative fashion. PocketDoc allows doctors to see how their patients are adhering to their
treatment guidelines. It also enables patients to be more involved in their treatment, with regular alerts and notifications regarding medication and other matters.

A field of 150 teams from around the United States was narrowed to 13 for the final competition. Three of those 13 were from VCU. One of the VCU teams consisted of students from the VCU School of Business’ department of Information Systems; a second team was a mix of students from the School of Business and the School of Engineering; and the team that won was all engineering students.

"The way these students used engineering skills to develop an application for the business world is a fine example of why we are putting our schools of Engineering and Business together on our new campus," said Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., president of VCU. "The Monroe Park Campus Addition is based on the foundation that having business and engineering students living and studying together will foster a more bench-to-market approach to research and development as they go out into the working world."

The winning team won a cash award of $8,000 and a trip to the worldwide finals in India for a chance at more than $25,000 in prizes. The second and third place teams were from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and East Tennessee State University, respectively.

“This is the second year in a row that a team of students from VCU was selected as the national winner in this prestigious competition,” said Robert J. Mattauch, dean of the VCU School of Engineering. “This speaks volumes about the emphasis at VCU on innovation, creativity and real-world applications of what the students learn in the labs. After all, engineering is about creating what has never been.”

Hollar, a member of the winning VCU team, said the competition was stiff.

"The bar was set very high with this Imagine Cup competition, and we're thrilled and honored to be named U.S. champion and going to India to the worldwide finals," he said. "The Imagine Cup is such an exciting event and allows students like me and my team to do something that really matters: work together to create software solutions that make a difference in the real world."

Last year’s winning team, a mix of students from the schools of Business and Engineering, took the honors for its tablet PC-based teaching tool for early childhood education.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

"The students at this year's Imagine Cup represent the next generation of technology and business leaders," said Sanjay Parthasarathy, corporate vice president of Developer and Platform Evangelism at Microsoft, whose team organizes the Imagine Cup. “Each team has created an application that demonstrates the power of software in solving real-world problems. Their creativity, innovation and commitment to improving people's lives is inspiring, and speaks volumes about their futures and that of technology overall."

For more information on the winning team, visit http://vcuic2006.blogspot.com/.