Teams from around the world gathered in St. Petersburg, Russia, this week for the finals of Microsoft's annual student contest.

More students competed in Imagine Cup worldwide this year than ever before, with a more than 70 percent increase from 2012.

The teams that attended the finals had either advanced through the country-level competitions that determined the national teams or had achieved success in the global online competition.

There are three main competitions that are the cornerstone events for Imagine Cup. This year each offered a first prize of $50,000; a second prize of  $10,000 and a third prize of  $5,000 and were in the three areas of  Innovation, World Citizenship and Games.

Here the line up of winners, with a description of their projects. Cue drum roll:

Innovation 

1st: Team Colinked - United Kingdom

• SoundSYNK - a mobile phone app looking to create an Impromptu Social Network by connecting phones through bluetooth/wifi/wifi direct and is a completely new approach to a form of mesh networking!
  When users connect their phones together, they have the ability to play the same song on all devices in perfect harmony, all working through known delays and per-determined time intervals, as well as dynamic adjustment from transmission rate timing and even tick level syncing depending upon the latency of devices caches.

2nd: Team DORA - Slovenia

• DORA -  interactive physician’s assistant enabling a unique presentation of patients information before and during surgical procedures, which indirectly affects environmental and economic aspects of health care. It enables innovative and pragmatic surgery planning and it’s realization.

3rd: Team MYRA - Thailand

• SkyPACS - a Web/Windows 8 application Intended for radiologists as be a management tool, storage and communication system for medical images such as MRI and/or CT with both 2D and 3D viewers.

World Citizenship

1st: Team For a Better World - Portugal

• For a Better World - a prototype of a low cost, portable device for determining blood types in about 5 minutes,  that can be used with Windows 8 with a phone, tablets of PC for use in emergency situations by hospitals or ambulances.

2nd: Team Omni-Hearing Solution - Taiwan

• Omni-Hearing Solution - an app-centric solution that ensures anyone full hearing ability. The solution is three-fold: it's a smart phone app to replace a traditional hearing aid; a cloud service to identify your potential hearing problem; and a sound processing technology to enhance the quality of all forms of vocal communication.

3rd: Team Confufish Royale - Australia

• Foodbank Local - allows more communities to feed those in need around them. The project has brought together the biggest players in the foodaid, supermarket and logistics research world around a brand new meal-centric philosophy.

Games

1st: Team Zeppelin Studio - Austria

• Schein -  a challenging puzzle platformer built on the myth of a wisp named Irrlicht. In this ingenious game light is the key to everything: defeat deadly beasts, solve tricky puzzles and uncover hidden paths through the murky swamp. / Schein has evolved from a small student project into a promising startup,

2nd: Team Solite Studio, Indonesia

• Save the Hamsters - an educational game in which hamsters have to be guided to the correct place using maths. The fun element is destroying the box, cutting the rope and eliminating obstacles.

3rd: Team Banzai Lightning, France

• Seed - a 2D side-scrolling, touch-controlled game for Windows 8 tablets. The character known as Seed is a small embodiment of raw life energy on its way to reviving the earth, bouncing through the levels using a hook and a jelly. 

Winners were also announced for the competitions challenges and third party awards - look out for a further news item with details.

More Information

Imagine Cup Website

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