Microsoft Jordan announces imagine cup 2016 Jordan winners

On behalf of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), H.E. Majd Shweikeh, presented prizes to the winning teams of the Imagine Cup 2016 Jordan. Members of ‘The A Team’, ‘Warriors’ and ‘Fayer’ were handed the prizes during a ceremony organized by Microsoft Jordan on Thursday 21 April, 2016, at the Haya Cultural Centre. The ceremony was attended by Microsoft Jordan Country Manager Hussein Malhas; as well as top executives from Zain, MenaITech and Pioneers Academy, among others. Also present were a group of students and academics from various Jordanian universities, in addition to a host of local media representatives. 

As the world's premier student technology competition targeting individuals between the ages of 16 and 26, Imagine Cup 2016 Jordan featured the participation of 50 teams comprised of students from Jordanian universities who competed under three different categories. As part of the competition, the participants were required to come up with innovative technological solutions that address various social issues and enrich the lives of others around them using Microsoft’s latest technology platforms. ‘The A Team’ of the University of Petra was announced as winner of the ‘World Citizenship’ category, which honors developers of software applications that demonstrate the greatest potential to make a positive contribution to the betterment of the community; while team ‘Fayer’ of The Gaming Lab was named winner of the ‘Games’ category, which recognizes developers of outstanding games created using Microsoft platforms. Additionally, team ‘Warriors’ of the Jubilee Institute was crowned as winner of the ‘Innovation’ category, which acknowledges developers of applications that deliver accessible innovations and advance major sectors such as social networks, search engines, classified advertisements or online shopping through new technologies based on unique, inventive and untapped concepts within the business sector.

The winning teams will go on to represent Jordan at this year’s Imagine Cup Arab Finals in Egypt, during which they will compete against participants from 19 Arab countries. Winners of the Imagine Cup Arab Finals will qualify for the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals 2016, challenging hundreds of students from around the world. The Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals 2016 is slated to take place during June in Washington, USA, where the winning team will receive a USD 50,000 cash prize.

H.E. Shweikeh elaborated that the royal patronage of the competition is testament to the invaluable support Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah have shown to young individuals across Jordan, motivating them to come up with new technology innovations. Furthermore, H.E. Shweikeh stated that Jordanian youth have enjoyed strong presence at both regional and international Microsoft competitions,   expressing her pride in this segment of creative young individuals and congratulating both the winning teams and finalists.

Moreover, H.E. Shweikeh went on to thank Microsoft Jordan for presenting youth with the opportunity to unleash their unique ideas and establish revolutionary projects that are capable of changing the world.

In turn, Malhas said, “At Microsoft Jordan, we feel that it is our responsibility to help youth uncover their hidden potential and technology talents, and encourage them to come up with projects that positively impact their futures and local communities alike. As such, we are committed to holding Imagine Cup in Jordan, which aims to recognize gifted and ambitious students, as well as advance the ICT sector, in line with His Majesty King Abdullah II’s vision to activate the national plan aimed at supporting our youth and elevating the sector.”   

Malhas went on to add, "At the conclusion of Imagine Cup 2016 Jordan, we are extremely proud of the impressive number of cutting-edge technology projects that have taken part, which is an indication of the competition’s success in supporting leadership and creative thinking year after year. It also underscores the massive potential and talent of our youth, which requires us all, as responsible national companies, to intensify our efforts in backing students and developing their capacities for the betterment of the local community as a whole, and the Jordanian IT sector in particular."

On their win, Sanad Barjawi from ‘The A Team’, commented, “I would like to thank Microsoft Jordan for organizing this outstanding competition, which gave us the opportunity to present our project to a group of elite business and technology experts. Today has been a dream come true for us, and we will surely carry on working on our project with greater determination and will as we incorporate additional features that allow us to leave a positive impact on the world. We are extremely proud of the opportunity to represent Jordan at Imagine Cup Arab Finals, and we will do our utmost to represent our country at the international level.”

Supported by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the competition has previously seen Jordan rank at third place in the Imagine Cup Arab Finals 2014 and the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals 2011. During last year’s Imagine Cup Arab Finals, Jordanian team ‘WeLink’ came in second place in the ‘Innovation’ category while team 'Captiosus' ranked third place in the ‘World Citizenship’ category. At the national level, the competition comprises two rounds. In the first round, all participating teams - of which there were 55 this year - are invited to present a practical demonstration of their ideas before a panel of judges, which in turn selects the best teams to move forward to the second round. In the second and final round, the qualified teams present their projects once again before another panel of judges that determines the winner.

Imagine Cup was launched 13 years ago by Microsoft to emphasize students’ ability to bring about positive change in the world by rallying gifted students of different disciplines and providing them with the resources and opportunities they need to innovate using Microsoft’s latest technologies. This enables them to develop smart applications and integrated solutions that bring about change to many fields from a scientific, social or recreational aspect. The year-long competition commences with national online rounds covering more than 100 countries, after which finalists qualify to compete in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals, which is held in a different country each year.