Imagine Cup
So why is there Imagine Cup?
Imagine Cup, so you might be starting to hear more and more about this competition and actually wondering what do you have to do to enter? I thought to try and make it easier to understand, to explain it in a few posts 
Imagine Cup: Why the competition?
Technology as you would know is a great enabler of things in our everyday lives in first world countries. What is even more impressive is the potential impact which technology can make in countries which don’t share the same luxuries. Imagine Cup encourages students to challenge themselves to create solutions to what the United Nations have stated are the 8 Millennium Development Goals. These goals are:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger
- Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
- Target 2: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people
- Target 3: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
- Target: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
- Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
- Target: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
- Target 1: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
- Target 2: Achieve universal access to reproductive health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases
- Target 1: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
- Target 2: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
- Target 3: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
- Target 1: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
- Target 2: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
- Target 3: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
- Target 4: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dweller
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
- Target 1: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
- Target 2: Address the special needs of least developed countries
- Target 3: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states
- Target 4: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries
- Target 5: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
- Target 6: In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
For more information visit http://www.imaginecup.com to learn more about the competition and its’ goals and look out for future posts going into more detail the different categories!
Imagine Cup Smackdown!
Imagine Cup is the premier student technology competition in the world challenging students to create solutions for the worlds toughest problems.
Imagine Cup Smackdown brings students a prime opportunity to learn about Imagine Cup and learn from experts on what will assist you with solving those tough problems using technology!
Taking on the concept from the highly successful Smackdown 2010 event held at QUT last year, Imagine Cup Smackdown will showcase some of the latest technology and amazing demo’s which will blow attendees away.
Imagine Cup Smackdown will not only hold a keynote event but will provide attendees the opportunity to deep dive into tracks including Software & Technology, Business and Design & UI.
See below for the confirmed awesome speakers of Imagine Cup Smackdown!
- Lawrence Crumpton – Microsoft
- Bronwen Zande – Soul Solutions
- John O’Brien – Soul Solutions
- Ben Place – Microsoft
- Danny Rowe – Microsoft
So when is it? Wednesday 23rd of November kicking off at 9am sharp
and where is it? QUT Gardens Point S Block Room 403
and how much? FREE
So register here to be apart of this awesome event! http://icsmackdown.eventbrite.com/
Imagine Cup – World Finals are coming to Australia in 2012!
AshMan Says…
The Imagine Cup – Australian Finals were held last night at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney with the crowning of ‘Brain Speller’ from University of Canberra as the champions.
Judged by a panel of five, the judges were industry experts including a past winner of the World Finals. The 2011 Imagine Cup World Finals will be held in July in New York, with 400 other students from around the globe competing against Team Australia.
Queensland University of Technology at the Australian Finals
Following the announcement of the winners for the local finals, Pip Marlow, managing director of Microsoft Australia announced that the 2012 World Finals will be held in Australia.
“We have the brightest and smartest talent in Australia, and by hosting the worldwide finals here next year, we hope to help inspire a new generation of student inventors and imagine-makers.”
Judges at the Australian Finals
The Imagine Cup 2012 will challenge students to come up with ideas to help solve the world’s toughest problems – inspired in part by the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals – and to use the power of software and technology to help bring those ideas to life. This year, the Imagine Cup has attracted over 300,000 students and more than 400 student finalists will compete.
For more information about the Imagine Cup, visit: www.imaginecup.com.au
TechEd 2010 – FREE The Student Dialogues for Faculty Staff
AshMan says…
TechEd Australia - Gold Coast 2010
THE STUDENT DIALOGUES
Come and hear from and interact with students from all across the country – possibly from your very own university – who all want one thing – to have a better, richer, more productive and inspiring experience while they study.
Hear how they want to be inspired to use technology and what they need to feel supported by you in their endeavours to better themselves, and why they want to be more productive (and how they can be) which in turn will help them succeed even more, and even what they want in an email service at their university.
Want to know what your students want to do when they graduate? Feel it’s important to know how to interact with the modern day student in your class or on your campus? Hunger to not only teach but lead your students to success in study and career?
Last year’s Academic Day confirmed one thing to us – the faculty and IT staff attendees found it incredibly valuable to hear directly from the students on the day, so we’re committing ourselves this year to making that happen even more – every session delivered in The Student Dialogues will be presented by a student from around the country that all have a common goal – to help their universities serve their students better so that when they graduate they’re ready for the outside world as powerful and effective as they can be.
You might have noticed the title of this event contains the word Dialogues, which is completely intentional. While every student presenter will be delivering to you their key messages, they’re also keen to hear from you – they’re committed to making this an interactive experience that benefits both the university and the students. So every session will have a dedicated Q&A time slot allocated to it.
So don’t miss this special three and a half hour event on the Gold Coast. RSVP is essential so book your place today!
All attendees will also receive complimentary access to the opening keynote address of the biggest technical conference in Australia – TechEd, and an invitation to attend the opening party of TechEd where they can network with the IT industry itself, potentially finding partners to help support their students in their study.
AGENDA OUTLINE – 12:30pm Start
- Introduction
- The Modern Student: What it means to be a student
- The Future Student: What can you do to attract students to your institution
- Inspiration – Imagine Cup – students want to represent your uni or school on the world stage
- Afternoon Tea
- Mobility – Windows Phone 7
- Productivity – Office 2010 and Office Web Apps
- Communication – Live@EDU
- Conclusion
Remember, all sessions include Q&A so you can ask the students directly for more details on the burning info you’re after.
4:00-4:30pm Transition to Keynote
4:30pm – Complimentary access to Opening Keynote of TechEd Australia
DETAILS
When
12:30pm – 4:00pm, Tuesday 24 August 2010
4:30pm onwards for TechEd Opening Keynote
Where
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
Corner of Gold Coast Highway and TE Peters Drive, Broadbeach QLD 4218
Session information
The Modern Student – What does it mean to be a student in today’s world? How does the modern student cope with the pressures of always on communication, families, work and social activities while at the same time trying to excel at study? What things can you do to help them succeed and not feel bombarded and helpless? What things can they do to help you better connect with them and communicate with them more effectively?
The Future Student – All universities are constantly challenged to recruit more and better candidates for their undergraduate courses. Hear from students who are passionate about exciting kids to get into studying technology and how they can help you get more passionate high school students applying to study at your university. Find out what techniques work when trying to get potential candidates keen on IT, and hear how your own current student pool can help you reach out to your surrounding schools.
Inspiration – Students all over the country are proud of the university they study at and we’re hearing they want to represent their uni on the national and global stage. Microsoft run Imagine Cup, the world’s biggest technology competition for students with over 325,000 students entering the competition worldwide in 2010. How can you help encourage and support the students at your university represent their technical prowess and in turn showcase the talent that is produced out of your university to the industry and media worldwide.
Mobility – A special introductory session on Windows Phone 7 that shows off the features and how it can integrate to other aspects of the learning experience for a student, plus a quick demonstration of how easy it is to build your own applications for the phone that could potentially leverage off your institution’s existing infrastructure.
Productivity – All students want to be as productive as possible. Studies show that they have almost double the amount of activities as they have waking hours in a week, which means they need to be as efficient as possible with everything they do. Hear how some students use products like OneNote and the new Office Web Apps to make their lives easier and see how they can be integrated into your own learning environment easily and at low or no cost to help them be even more productive in their study.
Communication – Email is arguably the most important and effective way of communicating with students in a typical university environment but is also one of the hardest to manage. Hear how students who have used Live@EDU have found it to be an incredibly effective solution for their email needs and has the additional benefits of being able to be used as their online ID elsewhere, thus spreading awareness of your institution on a wider net.
To attend, simply send an email to tech.ed@infosalons.com.au and include the following information for each person you’re RSVPing for:
Full Name
Educational Institution
Too easy!
I look forward to seeing you there, but more importantly, the student speakers are looking forward to seeing you there. Don’t miss out.
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