Aug. 4, 2005

VCU finishes among top 13 in Microsoft’s international software design competition

Team from Schools of Business and Engineering Competed in Worldwide Finals

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By Michael Ford
University News Services

Virginia Commonwealth University’s national champion software design team finished among the top 13 teams in Microsoft Corp.’s Imagine Cup, a computer and software design competition featuring the best student teams from around the world.

The Imagine Cup recognizes creative and technological innovations in the worldwide student community. For this year’s software competition, the student teams were asked to create a mobile application that dissolves the boundaries between people. The worldwide final, featuring 200 students from 38 countries, was held July 27 through Aug. 1 at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Yokohama, Japan.

VCU’s Team LiNK, James Barrett, John McKeon and John Sells, entered the competition as the 2005 American champions after taking first place in May in the U.S. Software Design Invitational of Imagine Cup, held in Redmond, Wash. Their winning design and presentation for a tablet PC-based teaching tool for early childhood education earned a $9,000 cash award and an automatic berth to the worldwide finals.

After all 38 teams completed two rounds of presentations, the field was sorted and the top 13 teams, including Team LiNK, were announced. These were teams that had two or more judges cite their project or presentation as best overall. However, the VCU team was not among the entries chosen to compete in the next round and ultimately the finals.

After the final round of presentations and judging, Microsoft announced the first, second and third place winners of Imagine Cup 2005. Teams from Russia, Greece and China finished at the top of the standings. The winning Russian entry demonstrated software that enabled musicians in separate locations to play a live performance together by attaching their instruments to computers linked to the Internet.

The VCU team drew on expertise from the VCU School of Business and the VCU School of Engineering.

For more information about the Imagine Cup competition, visit www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/imaginecup.