IMAGINE CUP 2016: MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES QUALIFIERS FOR NATIONAL FINALS

Twelve teams will be competing for honors. The winning team that emerges from the national finals will go ahead to compete with other students in the Middle East and Africa finals for a place at the World Finals of the world’s premier competition for student technologists, developers and aspiring entrepreneurs to create innovative projects and ultimately bring those ideas to market.

Teams from tertiary institutions across the country will put forward their ideas for a place at the national finals. This year, the competition was done on a regional basis, where teams within the regions competed with one another for a place.
The regional finals took place in three major Nigerian cities in the country namely: Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abuja, and it availed the participating teams an equal chance of showcasing their innovation.

The Imagine Cup roadshow was a celebration of ideas, technology and teamwork, that was witnessed by an impressive turnout from students across the different tertiary institutions in the country. The teams competed for honors in three categories namely: Innovation, World Citizenship and Games.

The Federal Capital, Abuja, played host to the northern region and saw three teams qualifying for the next round, out of five teams. The names of the three lucky teams are; Team Crimson from the University of Port Harcourt, Team Crest and Team EiVee both of the Federal University of Technology, Akure respectively.

South-West roadshow held in Ibadan, eleven teams competed, of which five teams qualified for the next round of the competition. The five lucky teams are Team Humane representing Obafemi Awolowo University, Team Wifi-Hub of the Ekiti State University, Team Circuit from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, The Elites from Ajayi Crowther University and, Team App Grade from the University of Lagos.

In Port-Harcourt, where the South-East stop was held, seven teams participated; four teams bagged their ticket to the finals, namely; Team Efficiency and Team Supervisor both of the Niger Delta University, Team Dragons from the University of Port- Harcourt and Team Boldsoft of the Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic.

The winners from the three regions would go on to compete in the National finals scheduled to hold in Lagos.
Commenting on the event, Kendra Nnachi, Audience Evangelism Manager at Microsoft Nigeria, said it is indeed exciting to see more and more ideas emerge from the Imagine Cup.

“It is evident that, this has now become an avenue for inspiration and innovation for students in Nigeria who want to use technology to solve the world’s toughest problems.

“It is interesting to see young Nigerians showing innovative and demonstrable ideas that explore how to make their world work better, as well as getting a platform for deeper interaction with peers of their kind. It has been a great joy to see the ideas from the finalists and the practical value of the projects and technology they have brought on.”

The National finals for the 2016 edition of Imagine Cup is slated to hold on April 15 2016. The twelve teams from the regions will compete for a place at the Middle-East and Africa Finals for a ticket to the World-Wide Finals. The global finals will take place in Seattle, Washington, United States of America later this year.