Khushi Gupta, Jeet Gohil, Dharmik Karania and Abdihamid Ali are computer science final year students of United States International University – Africa (USIS), Kenya. 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.
Microsoft organizes the developer competition each year for students aged 16 years and above. The student innovators, use their passion and purpose to tackle local social issues with technology. Winning a cash amount to help them to keep working on their project, as well as other prizes. The competition starts from the national or online level through the regional and then World Championship event.
Africa teams at the Imagine Cup
Throughout the history of the competition, student teams from various African countries have participated at the Europe Middle East and Africa regional level. With just a handful making it to the world championship level. Unfortunately, none has gone on to win the competition.
Last year, Team Knights from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya and Team RedWalls from Tunisia National Institute of Applied Science and Technology made it to the World Finals. In 2019, team Athena-IO, Tunisia and iCropal, Kenya joined 9 others from Europe as 12 EMEA Regional Finalist. Due to changes in the competition that year second-place team Athena-IO didn’t get to present at the World Finals.
Team iCropal, Kenya on the left
Team E-Parkfrom Morocco qualified through the Middle East and Africa competition held in Lebanon in 2017. Competing as the only team from Africa against 54 teams from around the globe at the finals. In 2016 four student teams from Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia qualified to represent Africa at the Imagine Cup Finals in Seattle. During this period in the competition history, winners at the national level got direct entries to the World Championship.
The wait has been long but it is finally here. Student teams making it to the World Championship successively these past few years show how far they have come.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox.” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Four computer science final year students of United States International University – Africa (USIS), Kenya, are the winners of the 2021 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship. The team wins the competition trophy, USD 125000 and a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Named Team REWEBA, they become the first student team from Africa to lift the prestigious Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship trophy in its 19-year history. The student team beat three other finalist teams from New Zealand, the United States and Thailand to win the competition.
Their journey began by beating ten thousands of students entries from 163 countries to qualify for the online semifinals round. They then progressed 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. At the world finals stage, Team REWBA emerged winners of the healthcare category. Advancing to the World Championship which took place during Microsoft Build 2021.
The students showcased an IoT-based early warning system for babies using technologies such as Machine Learning, IoT, Analytics, etc. Their innovation, Remote Well Baby (REWEBA), 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 Kenya students; Khushi Gupta, Jeet Gohil, Dharmik Karania and Abdihamid Ali, win USD 75,000 cash, USD 50,000 Microsoft Azure grant and will get a mentoring session with Satya Nadella.
The students are planning to enhance and scale their project. They will also launch a startup in Kenya that provides better access to healthcare especially to those in marginalized areas.
Watch the World Championship below.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox.” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Microsoft Build 2021 is all about developers! Throughout the event, over one hundred new services and updates across various areas of the Microsoft technology stack are going to be announced. But there seems to be one area on the Microsoft CEO’s mind, Windows. During the keynote address, he makes a passionate appeal and call to developers. Satya mentions a significant update is coming to Windows to make it the most innovative new open platform to build and distribute applications.
In the closing stages of his keynote, Satya Nadella talks briefly about Windows and notes “Windows is implicit, it’s never been more important.” He goes on to talk about how developers need to embrace windows as a dev box. By saying, Windows brings together all the developer collaboration tools in one place irrespective of platform or hardware.
No one will want technology that rapidly scales but breaks the world around us.
Satya Nadella
Satya however did not get into the specifics of how the company is going to do this or what the update is about. He said more will be coming soon. But you can get a hint of what is to come from what he shared. Read it below.
Windows as a dev box, the innovative new open platform
No one will want technology that rapidly scales but breaks the world around us. Our ambition is to be the platform for platform creators. We want to help you help the world, that is at the core of our mission.
Across all the opportunities I’ve highlighted today Windows is implicit, it’s never been more important. Windows 10 is used by more than 1.3 billion people to work, learn, connect and play and it all starts with Windows as a dev box. Windows brings together all your developer and collaboration tools in one place. It lets you choose the hardware you want, works with Linux and Windows as one, and has a modern terminal. Soon we will share one of the most significant updates to windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunities for developers and creators. I’ve been self-hosting it over the past several months. Our promise to you is this; we will create more opportunities for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative new open platform to build, distribute and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more soon.
Next generation Windows update including developer and creator monetization, Here is what to expect.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, <br>sign up so you can get the latest <br>in breaking news, reviews, <br>opinions, events,<br> opportunities and <br>community updates right <br>in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Watch Microsoft developer conference Build 2021 and get all the latest in Microsoft technology announcements. Where CEO, Satya Nadella will highlight how Microsoft is creating new opportunities for developers across the modern tech stack.
The free digital viewing of Build 2021 event starts at these times worldwide 3 PM GMT, 6 PM EAT, 5 PM 8 AM PT, May 25th to 27th 2021. Microsoft says this year the developer event is focused on empowering developers to help solve real-world problems.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
How do you become a software developer? What are the skills necessary and the pathways available to becoming a software developer? If you have these and many other questions like these then keep reading.
It is Microsoft Build this week and Microsoft is hosting free sessions hosted by software engineers, Technical program managers and Principal software engineers working at Microsoft. It means you will learn about the roles, languages and how to get in and thrive from people with experience. Also, learn several programming languages like Python, C#, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Azure, GitHub, Visual Studio Code, etc.
Learn how to contribute to shared projects using MakeCode and Javascript.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Meet the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, the latest or should I say the 2021 version of the Surface Laptop. It looks very similar to the Surface Laptop 3 in design but has a massive internal upgrade. It comes with two processor types; an 11th generation (gen) Intel processor and a custom AMD Ryzen Surface edition processor. It is also designed in 13″ and 15′ models. Let’s take a look at the device designed and optimized for Microsoft experiences.
Introducing Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
Specifications
Surface Laptop 4 13.5”
Surface Laptop 4 15”
weight
1,265 g – 1,288 g
1,542 g
Resolution
2256 x 1504 (201 PPI)
2496 x 1664 (201 PPI)
Memory
8GB, 16GB or 32GB LPDDR4x RAM
8GB, 16GB or 32GB LPDDR4x RAM
Processor
Quad Core 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7 processor AMD Ryzen™ 5 4680U Mobile Processor with Radeon™ Graphics Microsoft Surface® Edition (6 cores) Quad Core 11th Intel® Core™ i7-1185G7 processor
Quad Core 11th Intel® Core™ i7-1185G7 processor AMD Ryzen™ 7 4980U Mobile Processor with Radeon™ Graphics Microsoft Surface® Edition (8 cores)
Storage
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
Ports
1 x USB-C 1 x USB-A 3.5 mm headphone jack 1 x Surface Connect port
1 x USB-C 1 x USB-A 3.5 mm headphone jack 1 x Surface Connect port
Battery Life
13.5″ with AMD Ryzen – 19 hrs 13.5″ with Intel – 17 hrs
15″ with AMD Ryzen – 17.5 hrs 15″ with Intel – 16.5 hrs
Unboxing and first Impressions with Judner Aura, UrAvgConsumer
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13″ and 15″ review with Tom, The Tech Chap
Surface Laptop 4 starts retailing at $999.99 and is available to order in select markets. It is expected to become available in other markets including South Africa and the UAE in the coming weeks.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
