The showdown begins at Imagine Cup 2011
Last year this time, I was in Warsaw, Poland to judge the Software Design competition category of the Imagine Cup worldwide finals. It was the first time that I was exposed to the competition and the student enthusiasm I saw there amazed me. The teams buzzed around with clear excitement that they were part of something greater than themselves.
This year, I’m here in New York City to again participate as a judge for Imagine Cup, where there are 424 finalists from across 73 countries congregated here for the ultimate finals after topping their respective countries.
My view during breakfast from the New York Marriot Marquis.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off the opening ceremony yesterday with Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley closing the round of speeches.
This year, I’m judging the IT Challenge category. The final round of this particular category of competition takes place over 24 hours (30ish for the judges) as the students work throughout the day and night to build an entire IT network environment for a case scenario.
Completing the tasks is not so much the problem as the time limit. Compounding that is the non-stop factor of the 24 hour challenge. Students will get tired, cranky and high on the sugar buzz from RedBulls.
The six finalists and judges of the IT Challenge for Imagine Cup 2011. From left: Valy Greavu (Co-Captain/Judge), myself (Judge), Chris Amaris (Co-Captain/Judge), Sinescu Ionut (Romania), Blazej Matusyk (Poland), Xuewen Tian (China), Alexander Wachtel (Germany), Yunheng Mong (Singapore), Jean-Sébastien Duchene (France), Rand Morimoto (Co-Captain/Head Judge).
Good luck guys!
