Microsoft has announced today that registrations for the 2017 Imagine Cup, its annual student technology competition, are now open to teams from across the world. To register, students can create teams with a maximum of three members but they can also be helped by a mentor who will help them develop their idea.
Registration will be open through March 2017, while the national finals will be held in April and the global finals in July. Imagine Cup will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year, and Microsoft has changed some of the competition’s rules for this edition:
- There will be no categories this year, which will hopefully give more creative options for teams. However, their project will still need to have business value.
- Teams will have to build apps and services leveraging Microsoft technologies including Azure.
- Winners will be awarded $100,000 in prize money (double what it’s been in the past) and $120,000 worth of Azure credits.
Last year, the competition was won by the ENTy team from Romania which created a wearable device for monitoring balance and posture. Emily Byle, Audience Marketing Manager at Microsoft explained that the company has even higher expectations for this year’s edition:
The 15 year anniversary of the Imagine Cup is set to be bigger and better than ever. It is a great opportunity for student developers to take their ideas to the next level and make an impact. We can’t wait to see what the students imagine and develop.
You can register for Imagine Cup 2016 on the dedicated website, and we also invite you to check out the official rules and regulations on this PDF.
