USIU student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

USIU student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

Kenya’s student team TAWI has qualified for the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship set to take place in May. The team emerged winners in the education category of the 2023 Imagine Cup world finals qualifying round. Beating 15 other teams to become the top-scoring team and 2023 Europe Middle East and Africa(EMEA) champions. They won USD5,000 in prizes.

Team TAWI also qualified from 48 competing global teams to be selected among the top 3 that will compete in the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship. Where they will compete for the Imagine Cup trophy, the grand prize of USD100,000 to develop their project, and a mentoring session with Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella.

Microsoft Imagine Cup World finalist from Kenya Team TAWI

Team TAWI consists of Muna Said Nomy, John Onsongo Mabeya, Syntiche Musawu, Applied Computer Technology, and Zakariya Hussein, Data Science and Analytics undergraduate students of the United States International University (USIU) – Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Their innovative solution TAWI looks to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with auditory processing.

The USIU student team will become the second from the institution to make it to the finals of the Microsoft student technology competition in three successive years. The former became the first student team from Africa to win the competition in its history.

The home-based software leverages real-time speech recognition technology to help children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) communicate more effectively. Instead of traditional hearing aids, TAWI uses earphones to amplify speech and cancel out background noise, making it easier for children with APD to engage in conversations and interact with others. It includes noise cancellation, sound amplification, speech-to-text conversion, and auditory training exercises.

The team will present TAWI at Microsoft Build 2023 where the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship takes place. They will compete against the winning teams from the Americas and Asia regions. Eupnea from the United States and CS-M Tool from Thailand, both from the Health category.

Student teams, Smart Farmer and iBoost from Kenya also emerged as EMEA winners in the Earth and Lifestyle categories respectively.

Hongera to these incredible young developers and all the best to Team TAWI in the championship!🎉

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UPDATE: 05/04/2023
– corrected the MEA winning prize value from USD50,000 to read USD5,000.
– corrected study program

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Microsoft launches student hackathon, targets solutions for the health sector

Microsoft launches student hackathon, targets solutions for the health sector

University students from across Kenya and some parts of Africa can now apply to participate in season 4 of the Microsoft Africa Development Centre’s (ADC) Game of Learners (GOL) student hackathon competition. The GOL initiative provides an opportunity for African university students, aspiring software engineers, and solution builders to improve their technical and coding abilities while creating solutions to current challenges facing the continent and the world.

GoL student hackathon Season 4

In this year’s student hackathon competition, participants will be working to develop possible technology solutions that can address different health challenges, including how to improve healthcare service provision in their localities or other parts of the world. The program runs as a 5-week hackathon with teams captained by Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors crafting the innovations while receiving technical training from Microsoft’s professionals.

student hackathon gol microsoft

“Since we launched Game of Learners four years ago, we have seen incredible development in the learner’ skills through each season as they create incredibly clever solutions to some of Africa’s pressing problems using Microsoft technology,” said Ruth Ferland, Senior Program Manager at ADC, and the founder of the Game of Learners Program. “This year’s theme will allow the participants to plug into an area that has enormous potential to impact lives across the continent and indeed around the world.”

The students will benefit from the instruction of 32 coaches and more than 20 advisors who will guide them through the process of learning new technologies and building their solutions. The coaches, mentors, judges, speakers, and trainers will consist of volunteers from Microsoft and partners, who for season 4 will include PSI and AMREF Health Africa.

Winning teams

At the end of the season, the winning team will be eligible for awards, including collaboration with GOL Season 4 partners to advance their solution and entry into the Microsoft Imagine Cup, where they will present their innovation on a global stage.

student hackathon Game of Learners hackathon logo

“This partnership with Microsoft is part of a larger initiative to increase the talent pool of individuals working in Digital Health across Africa”, said Martin Dale, Population Services International’s (PSI) Global Director of Digital Health. “There is so much talent graduating from our universities and Game of Learners is a great opportunity for students to dig in and create solutions that make health care more accessible to all.”, he continued.

Speaking about the initiative, Samuel Weru, AMREF Health Africa Group ICT Director, challenged students to apply for the program and be part of the drive towards creating home-grown solutions for Africa’s challenges.

“As a continent that has historically had serious healthcare challenges, we need the kind of ideas that can only come from the youth to revitalize healthcare service provision. There are myriad opportunities ranging from health informatics and telemedicine to big data analysis and system security for the learners to explore. We are eager to work with the teams to create solutions that have the potential to change Africa and the world,” said Weru.

GoL Season 4

In total, Season 4 will have 16 teams, each made up of 4 learners, 2 men and 2 women, drawn from all over the continent. The virtual student hackathon competition is open to students of accredited universities and colleges in sub-Saharan Africa, who will be vetted as per the requirements after submitting an online application.

“The program is designed to provide a fun, hands-on learning experience while creating a virtual environment that transcends borders to allow young minds to collaborate and drive the advancement of Africa into a global innovation hub. Having gender-balanced teams further ties into our mission of promoting diversity and inclusion within the tech industry,” explains Ferland.

Like a sports league, each 5-week season of Game of Learners follows up with a month-long season of GOL Clinic and GOL exhibitions to accord individuals seeking deeper hands-on technical experience and specialized training from Microsoft and GOL partners.

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Students from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa qualify for the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup world finals

Students from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa qualify for the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup world finals

University student teams from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are among the shortlisted finalist of the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup world finals. They are among 16 teams who will represent the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at the Microsoft Imagine Cup student technology competition.

The African teams consist of seven teams from Kenya, one from Nigeria, and one from South Africa. The remaining finalist teams from the region come from the UK, Pakistan, UAE, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The EMEA teams will be competing with 32 other finalist teams from the Americas and Asia regions. For a chance to win USD50,000 in prizes and a spot to present at the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship.

Only three teams will make it to the next stage of the technology competition. The teams will need to get the top-scoring points in the region or category to progress to the next stage. The winning teams will get support from Microsoft mentors to prepare for the World Championship in May during Microsoft Build. Where they will win the grand prize of USD100,000 and a mentoring session with Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella.

African student teams have been performing exceptionally well in the technology competition that seeks to empower the next generation of creators and problem-solvers. In 2021 and for the first time in its 19-year history, an African student team from Kenya won the technology competition.

Here is a highlight of the African teams and their projects.

2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup logo backdrop and throphy

2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup Africa finalists

Team CAi from Kenya. Project category: Health

CAi is an AI-powered wearable device that detects seizures both prior to occurrence and in real-time and alerts caretakers. It uses the patient’s vital signs and body movements to detect seizure-like symptoms.

Team Paramount from South Africa. Project category: Earth

This system addresses the lack of participation in recycling through a gamification approach. Users earn points and badges for recycling and can also use the app to identify the correct bin to use.

Team iBoost from Kenya. Project category: Lifestyle

iBoost is a smart signal amplifier that leverages Azure Machine Learning, Bing Maps platform, and a host of other Microsoft technologies to bring an end to the internet connectivity and cellular network challenges brought about by poor network coverage.

Team IBTRS from Nigeria. Project category: Lifestyle

Institution based transport system (IBTRS) is based on a shuttle management system, IBTRS uses a telegram bot and RFID system to book shuttles at an affordable price for institutions, students, and workers and maximize efficiency.

Team RIM from Kenya. Project category: Earth

RIM Energy is a Smart LPG regulator that improves safety, monitors consumption, detects gas leaks, alerts on refill, and measures carbon footprint to reduce GHG emissions in African households.

Team Score More from Kenya. Project category: Education

Udhamini web app is a platform that gives students access to a centralized repository of scholarships to make opportunities easier to find and ensure that students don’t miss deadlines.

Team Smart Farmer from Kenya. Project category: Earth

Smart Farmer aims to increase agricultural production in order to help reduce food waste using technology.

Team TAWI from Kenya. Project category: Education

Tawi is a home-based software app that helps children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) improve their auditory skills. It includes noise cancellation, sound amplification, speech-to-text conversion, and auditory training exercises.

Team Wastestars from Kenya. Project category: Earth

Wastestars aims to design a smart waste collection system that allows citizens to choose and post the various types of solid waste they want to dispose of on the website and for garbage collectors.

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Kenya student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

Kenya student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

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.

Imagine Cup World Championship Microsoft kenya

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.

UPDATE:

5/25/2021: Updated to include the date of finals.

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2019 Imagine Cup EMEA Online Finals competition

2019 Imagine Cup EMEA Online Finals competition

Register to participate in the 2019 Imagine Cup EMEA Online Regional Semifinals for a chance to qualify to the world finals.

2019 Imagine Cup EMEA

Do you have an idea that solves a problem? Can your idea use Microsoft’s Azure technology to solve the problem? Register to participate in Microsoft’s 2019 Imagine Cup competition. The cup competition is opened to students at any qualified academic institution aged 16 and above.

The Imagine Cup competition is about innovations changing the way we live. It is about solutions and applications that save lives. The competition provides a platform for student teams across the globe to showcase the technology ideas they create. How those technologies can not only shape their futures, but directly improve the lives of users.

2018 Imagine Cup World Finals

There are two ways to qualify for the Imagine Cup World Finals held each year. Either through the local national finals in your country or through the Online Finals.

The 2019 Imagine Cup: EMEA Regional Online Finals is opened to student teams from Europe (Western, Central and Eastern), Middle East, and Africa countries.

Submit an original idea entry by 02:59:59 GMT +0 on Wednessday 16th January for a chance to qualify to the world finals. A chance to win USD 15000 + a spot in the world championship, USD 5000 or USD 1000.

Selected Online Regional Finalist will be announced in March 2019 for the online finals.

Visit the imagine Cup website to register and submit your solution. Read the contest rules for other necessary details on the competition.