Federal Minister Education praised HEC and Microsoft for Organizing Imagine Cup 2020 Global Competition
The Imagine Cup Pakistan winner With a clear vision the winning team from NUST – Flowlines (aka.ms/flowlines), their idea to use augmented reality to connect its users with the physical world was the winner among 60 finalist teams from across the country. Congratulating the winners of this year’s national finals, Dr Tariq Banuri; Chairman HEC said The team will now represent Pakistan at the upcoming regional semifinals in Amsterdam, Holland, to compete among global teams for over USD20,000 total in prizing, Azure credits, plus the top two will win spots to advance to 2020 Imagine Cup World Championship! During their regional Final journey, teams will also have the chance to participate in an entrepreneurship Day from the U.S. Department of Global Innovation through science and Technology (GIST) to refine their business pitches, receive mentorship from Microsoft experts, and experience cutting-edge technical innovation at MicrosoftIgnite the Tour. Also travelling to Amsterdam with the Imagine Cup team will be the Microsoft Student Partner(MSP), YaqoobJamal from NUST, to take part in MSP summit where he will join other MSPs from the region to talk about various aspects of technology and how these programs can be incorporated in Universities. Microsoft Imagine Cup continues to witness strong participation from Pakistan, as well as worldover., as an initiative of the Strategic Partnership with HEC; Microsoft Pakistan&HEC reached out to more than 100 campuses this year through multiple outreach campaigns in a bid to create awareness around the competition and effectively market it to the audience, which resulted in record-breaking project entries (600+)in this competition, almost double the number from 2019. HEC’s commitment to the academia and students is reflected as Microsoft drives the Imagine Cup to highlight Pakistan’s position on the leader boards – Thus, Pakistan ranks as the top country in the World, with the highest number of project submissions and competitors in Imagine Cup.
A lot of remote and underprivileged areas were targeted specifically in the drive for Imagine Cup, particularly Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Sukkur and Quetta. Students were initially evaluated in Regional finals, held in different cities and the best teams competed to win theNational Finals. The winning teams showcased their innovative thinking, technical skills and ground-breaking solutions to address everyday challenges. Country Manager MicrosoftPakistan Shahzad Khan said Senior Education Director for Microsoft Middle East & Africa Harb Bou-Harbadded Imagine Cup is one of Microsoft’s many efforts to transform skill development, nurture budding technologists and foster collaborative and innovative spirit. This global technology competition boasts of several success stories emerging from the competition. It’s a great platform to innovate, get recognized and eventually get enabled to bring about a positive change.