Sandra Makena and Amanda Flavia, undergraduate students of Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT), Nyeri, Kenya, have emerged Earth Category winners of the 2022 Microsoft Imagine Cup Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional competition. They are awarded USD2500 cash and USD2500 in Microsoft Azure credits in prizes.
Sandra and Amanda, engineering and computer science students respectively, teamed up to take part in the Microsoft student technology competition. Qualifying as part of 48 teams to the World Finals stage out of thousands of teams from 160 countries. The 48 teams consisted of four other student teams from Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa representing Africa. Five teams from the Middle East and six from Europe, thus 16 finalists from the EMEA region. With Sandra Makena and Amanda Flavia winning in one of the four categories for the EMEA region.
The students with the Team name ‘Sayari’ the Swahili word for planet, conceptualized the ‘Ideal Monitoring System’ to reduce post-harvest losses and maximize yields for farmers. The system, they say, will help farm managers monitor and maintain ideal conditions for maximum yields. As well as the safe storage of agricultural produce in storage and agricultural cold rooms.
Even though Sandra and Amanda emerged as Microsoft Imagine Cup EMEA category winners they did not get the top-scoring points in the region to progress to the next stage. This year only the top-scoring team in each region gets to advance to the 2022 World Championship, which takes place during Microsoft Build in May. V Bionic, a student team from Saudi Arabia, getting the top-scoring points qualifies to represent the EMEA region. They will face off with Melodic, USA and Nana Shilpa, Sri Lanka, Americas and Asia regional winners respectively. For the chance to win the grand prize of USD100,000 and a mentoring session with Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella.
The competition known by others as the Olympics of Technology marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Four computer science final year students of the United States International University – Africa (USIS) in Kenya will represent the Europe Middle East and Africa region at the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship.
The students are winners of the healthcare category and one of four teams advancing to the finals of this year’s Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. Where they get to compete with other teams from New Zealand, the United States, and Thailand for USD75,000 and mentorship with Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.
“We have no words, it means a lot“
The Team
Meet team REWEBA, made of four members; Khushi Gupta, Jeet Gohil, Dharmik Karania, and Abdihamid Ali. REWBA comes from their innovation name Remote Well Baby.
Team REWEBA entered into the competition under the healthcare category with an IoT-based early warning system for babies. Their innovation remotely monitors infant parameters during regular post-natal screening. It then sends measurements to doctors remotely, allowing for immediate interventions saving infants from fatal diseases, and reducing infant mortality rates.
The students from Kenya say we have no words, it means a lot after working hard to get to the Imagine Cup World Championship.
Their journey includes beating tens of thousands of students from 163 countries in the online semifinal round. Then selected as part of 40 teams to qualify for round one of the World Finals stage. Where two other student teams from Kenya; Cafrilearn and INTELLIVOLT qualified to compete.
They among 11 other teams from across the world qualified to present in round two of the World Finals. Advancing to the next stage of the competition means the team wins USD10,000 and Azure credits.
Imagine Cup World Championship
The four finalists present ideas that tackle local and global issues in one of each of the competition categories; healthcare, education, earth, and lifestyle. The three other teams are Team ProTag from New Zealand, Hand-On-Labs from the USA, and Threeotech from Thailand.
The world championship is taking place before the Microsoft Build 2021 Keynotes. Team REWEBA from Kenya will get the opportunity to be the first team from Africa to win the Microsoft Imagine Cup student competition.
Two student teams from Africa emerge as winners in this years Microsoft Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional final. The teams from Tunisia and Kenya will go on to represent the region at the world championship in Seattle. For a chance to win the grand prize of USD100,000 cash, USD50,000 Azure credits and a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
The Knights from Kenya and RedWalls from Tunisia took the winning spots. Each winning USD 8,000 cash, Azure credits and an all expenses paid trip to the World Championship in Seattle. Three runner-up teams conclude the winning teams. Wild Eye from Kenya, Allez from Ukraine and Vhysio from the United Kingdom. Each runner-up team getting USD 2,500 cash and Azure credits.
No African team has clinched the prestigious grand prize in the eighteen years history of the cup competition. Can the teams make history this made? We look forward to bringing you the world championship from Microsoft Build 2020 in May. When the EMEA champions take on their Asia and Americas counterpart.
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Microsoft Imagine Cup Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional finalist will now virtually pitch their ideas to judges. This is as concerns of COVID-19 (corona virus) increase worldwide. The in-person regional cup competition finals was scheduled to take place March 10 to 12 in Amsterdam.
The spread of COVID-19, corona virus in new countries and regions is seeing conferences cancelled worldwide. Many organizations are resorting to hosting only virtual events. Microsoft announced the cancellation of its Ignite the Tour in Amsterdam and pointed interested attendees to watching the on demand sessions online. Stating “the health and safety of our customers, partners, suppliers and employees is a top priority“.
The cancellation of the tour means cancellation of co-located events; Imagine Cup EMEA regional finals and Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Summit. The cup competition will still take place, however virtually on March 10.
Microsoft shares an update on the competition;
“The ten student teams from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will virtually pitch their purpose-driven applications at the Imagine Cup EMEA Regional Final“.
Each of the ten student teams will pitch their solution, answer questions, and showcase their technology to judges. Two teams will be selected to represent the EMEA regional region at the 2020 World Championship finals in Seattle. For a chance to compete for the grand prize of USD100,000 cash, USD50,000 Azure credits and mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The winning teams from the regional finals will take home USD8,000. Whereas three runner-up teams will each take home USD2,500.
We will look to bring you coverage of the regional finals.
Check out details of the EMEA regional finals imagine student cup competition from last year.
Student teams from Kenya and Tunisia qualify for the next stage of the 2020 Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. They are part of ten online regional semi-finalists from the Europe Middle East and Africa region. They will get to present their ideas at the Microsoft Imagine Cup EMEA regional finals in Amsterdam in March. With a chance to win USD 20,000, Azure Credit and a trip to the Imagine Cup World Championship in Seattle.
The teams from Kenya and Tunisia make up the only three online regional semi-finalist from Africa. They are Wild Eye – Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT), Kenya, RedWalls – Tunisia and The Knights – Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.
The teams will have a chance to qualify and present their ideas at the 2020 Microsoft Imagine Cup world finals. Where they can win USD 100,000 cash, USD50,000 in Azure grants and a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Other qualifiers are student teams from Ukraine, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, UK and Pakistan. Stay tuned, as we bring you updates till the world finals in Seattle.
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