Three students have won the top prize in the UK Imagine Cup, a programming contest run by Microsoft, after writing a worldwide blogging application.
Team Bit Shifters consists of Adrian Collier from Bournemouth University, Andrew Webber from City University in London and Joseph Wardell from Aberystwyth University, and they'll be off to Japan later in the year to represent the UK in the worldwide final of the Imagine Cup. The UK final was held on Tuesday evening at the BT Tower in London.
Their application, called OneReach, uses a smartphone as a blogging tool so that students in their gap year can share their experiences with others around the world. The system also allows you to swap ideas and recommendations on things to see, places to eat and even allow participants to meet up based on their location.
A close second were Genesys Innovations from Sheffield University, the only team in the finals to have a female member. Their geMuse project allows you to customise your night's clubbing by sneaking a peek at playlists before you choose which club to go to.
The entrants were given the task of developing a mobile application using .NET and web services on the subject of "breaking down boundaries". The finalists were chosen from over 30 teams that entered the competition, now in its third year.
David Burrows, Director of Education Skills for Microsoft UK, told Builder UK that competitions like the Imagine Cup were a great way to showcase young developer talent. "We set out [with the Imagine Cup] three years ago, and it's just grown to be quite massive. It's interesting to see some of the creativity and innovation that's coming out of it," he said. "We've set the theme of the content around breaking down boundaries, and we're looking at not only how innovative the solution is, but how applicable it is to real-world problems."
The winning team will travel to Yokohoma, Japan at the end of July to compete in the grand final, and could win a share of the prize fund of $215,000 (£118,000).
