Imagine Cup 2009: Team Pearl from Mumbai to Represent India at World Finals in Egypt

Record Breaking 52,000 Teams Register for Competition in India, Over 3 Lac Worldwide

Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Thursday, May 07, 2009 — (Business Wire India) — Team Pearl (Proactive Emergency Alerting and Response Loop) from VESIT, Mumbai University emerged victorious at the India finals of Imagine Cup 2009, the world’s premier student technology competition. The team – comprising of Noel Sequeira, Sameet Khajuria, Sujay Kakarmath and Yogita Rochlani gets the opportunity to represent India at the world finals in Cairo, Egypt, in July, this year. 

Microsoft Imagine Cup, now in its seventh year, saw registrations by more than 52,000 Indian teams from colleges across the country. Out of these, after a series of shortlists, the top seven teams remained to compete for the first prize and the honor of representing the country. These seven teams showcased their software solutions in front of an eminent panel of judges comprising of academicians and industry representatives – with Team Pearl finally being chosen as the best. Team Tamana and Team Trailblazers were judged the first and second runners-up respectively. 

Thrilled on winning the India finals, Noel Sequeira from team Pearl, said, “Imagine Cup has given us the opportunity to showcase our talent and the added satisfaction lies in the fact that through this project, we have the chance to contribute to society. We are now looking forward to seeing what the other teams from other countries have worked on”. 

Congratulating all the finalists on having made it to the shortlist from the scores of teams that registered, Shashi Kumar, General Manager, Microsoft Global Support Center, Microsoft India, said, “It’s an inspiration to see all these young people apply their ample creativity to address challenges that face the world today. Be it education for all, or the eradication of poverty or preventing the spread of AIDS, these are concerns that these very people will have to deal with, and it’s great that they are looking for solutions now. This is why Imagine Cup is a unique proposition: it is an opportunity to imagine a better world empowered by technology.”

Imagine Cup is a year long activity open to students across the globe. The competition begins with local, regional and online contests, followed by screening of best projects from each country and with winners from these legs participating in the global finals held in a different location every year. In its seventh year in 2009, the competition challenged the students to address the hardest challenges in the world today as identified by the United Nations in its Millennium Development Goals – ranging from halving extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS to providing universal primary education.

About Imagine Cup

The world’s premier student technology competition, Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, passion, and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world today. The Imagine Cup 2009 worldwide finals will take place in Cairo, Egypt from July 3rd to the 7th, 2009. More information is available online at http://www.imaginecup.com

About Microsoft India

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft Corporation India Private Ltd is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation USA. It has had a presence in India since 1990 and currently has offices in 16 cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, and Pune.

For further information, please visit www.microsoft.com/india/msindia