Turin wins Imagine Cup

Microsoft Corp on Friday announced the winners of Imagine Cup - 2006 after a week of intense competition among finalists chosen from a pool of more than 65,000 students from over 100 countries.

Giorgio Sardo, Massimo Paternoster, Silvia Perrone and Andrea Sossich from Team Even from Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, celebrated their first-place in the worldwide Software Design Invitational and were awarded a cash prize of $25,000.

"These projects demonstrate the power of software to address real-world problems, and I'm so impressed by the high levels of technical innovation that these students achieved in their work," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, who met several student teams in Redmond, Washington., earlier this year as they prepared for the Indian competition.

He added this year's Imagine Cup participants committed to improve people's lives which was very inspiring.

They represented the next generation of business and technology leaders, and their creativity and passion were the reasons for everyone to be optimistic about the future, said Gates.

The 42 software design finalist teams created a software application using Microsoft® technology and Microsoft .NET Web Services based on the Imagine Cup competition theme: "Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives."

A total of 181 students from 72 teams representing 42 countries were ultimately selected to participate in the finals in six categories: Software Design, Algorithm, IT, Short Film, Interface Design and Project Hoshimi (Programming Battle).

The student teams were asked to undertake a series of challenges relating to multimedia or technology depending on the invitational.

The winners were announced in a gala awards ceremony earlier this afternoon in Delhi during the Imagine Cup World Festival, a celebration drawing the Imagine Cup competitors, mentors and other key attendees including a keynote address from Kapil Sibal, cabinet minister of science and technology for the government of India.

Speaking at the event, Sibal said, "I am so delighted to be amidst some of the brightest young minds from across the globe. In them I see the future, the next phase of technology revolution, and the desire to make the world a better place not just for themselves but for others too. The role of governments and businesses is to make sure we provide them with those opportunities. Imagine Cup is one of those platforms, and I am glad India played host and hopefully not only inspired them but also learned from them."