Microsoft declares Imagine Cup victors

Two teams from Qatar University and one from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar have been declared the winners of Imagine Cup 2016, organised by Microsoft Qatar.
Qatar national finals saw competition from teams representing Qatar University, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and Texas A&M University at Qatar in three categories of Innovation, World Citizenship and Gaming.
The details of the competition and the winners were announced at a press conference yesterday by Naim Yazbeck, general manager, Microsoft Qatar.
Held under the patronage of HE Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport and Communications, a large number of students took part in the student technology competition on Monday at Kempinski Marsa Malaz.
The winning teams from each category are: “Team Xblink” from Qatar University in the Innovation category; “Team BuzzCast” from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar in the World Citizenship category and “Team Focus” from Qatar University in the Gaming category.  All the three teams will travel to Cairo to represent Qatar at the 3rd Pan-Arab Semi-Finals taking place at the end of May.
Al-Sulaiti said: “The unique minds that introduce startup projects in Qatar deserve incubation and support; something where the Ministry of Transport and Communications places a lot of attention. The Digital Incubation Centre will incubate all the teams that participated in the 2016 Imagine Cup Finals within the Centre’s Launchpad Track. The Centre will extend support in the cost of completing the initial models of the two ideas that won the first place in the two categories of Innovation and World Citizenship.”
“Qatar aspires to be among the best in the world in entrepreneurship. By moulding and empowering the youth of today into the innovators of tomorrow, Imagine Cup is a cornerstone of Microsoft’s commitment towards achieving this aspiration.” said Yazbeck.  
Submission of entries were accepted from teams comprising up to four members, aged 16 to 26 years who were challenged to develop innovative projects and present real world solutions to real world problems. Many projects from universities across Qatar were submitted to Microsoft, however only six teams were shortlisted to compete for the national title.
The panel of judges included Duha al-Buhendi, marketing and entrepreneurs engagement, Ministry of Transport and Communications’s Digital Incubation Centre, Dr Ahmed  K Elmagarmid, executive director, Qatar Computing Research Institute, Abdul Salam Knio, managing partner, Information and Communication Technology and Mohamed Alam, general manager, Qatar Datamation Systems.