Imagine Cup 2008: Day 1 - Road To Paris

Video: Imagine Cup 2008 Finals

The Imagine Cup is a global competition that encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world - today. Last year, I travelled with Canadian students to Seoul, Korea with Team Robot Hospital, Team Awesome, Team iDoll and Team Omni. Team Awesome won third place in the worldwide Photography competition (the same team members won first place in 2006 for their film "Paper Heart". Check out the winning film). Check out this Channel 8 interview with Ryan Marr and Patrick Struys.

Congratulations to the two Canadian teams who made in into the Imagine Cup 2008 Finals! I will be travelling to Paris, France later today with five students from Team RoboTree and Team GreeNet. To get a feel for what the event will be all about, I've embedded a video above.

Team RoboTree includes students from both Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario (read a press release from the university). They are one of six world finalists in the Short Film Competition by creating a film called "Terra" which brings awareness of the impact of our actions on the planet.

Team GreeNet includes students from Simon Fraser University. They are one of six worldwide finalists in the Interface Design competition by creating a FaceBook interface called GreeNet which acts as a virtual garden, where their participation in energy-conscious activities effects the growth of plants within that space. As developers, we can all agree that having the right interface can make a big impact on the usability and popularity of an application.

In a follow up post, I'll provide more details about each team. Let's cheer on the Canadians through the finals (and Happy Canada Day)!