We are very excited to announce that we have launched Imagine Cup, which is the biggest student technology competition in the world, for the second time in Qatar. After the excellent results we've seen the Qatar local team celebrate last year (being ranked in the top 20 teams in the world at the Global Finals in Sydney in July 2012), we're eager to see what our students have in store for us this year! There has been a lot going on in preparation for the Imagine Cup Qatar local finals happening this March, and so many more related events waiting in line for the next few months.
Last December, we visited four universities (Qatar University, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Texas A&M Qatar and College of North Atlantic Qatar) to promote the competition. Through our exciting campus tours, we managed to receive over 460 student registrations for Imagine Cup Qatar 2013. This year, the competition is much broader, covering three categories: world citizenship, innovation and gaming, giving students more room for creativity to think of great ideas that they could use Microsoft technologies to implement and positively impact our world.
In an effort to support this fantastic initiative, Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) signed an agreement with Microsoft Qatar to be the platinum sponsors for Imagine Cup in Qatar 2013. We have been collaborating very actively with them to promote the competition and inspire innovation on a student level across the country. We also celebrated our partnership in a signing ceremony where our Country Manager, Naim Yazbeck, and QAPCO’s Human Resources & Learning Manager, Dr. Nasser Al Hajri signed the contract and exchanged tokens of appreciation to mark the start of this new exciting partnership. Commenting on the agreement, Naim Yazbeck, Microsoft Qatar Country Manager, expressed that, “We are very pleased that QAPCO is supporting this year’s competition in Qatar. Imagine Cup is a platform where students in Qatar can showcase their entrepreneurial approach and knowledge of new technology. Encouraging participation in research is a central aim of the human development pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and Microsoft is pleased to be contributing to the realization of that pillar.”
Dr.Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, QAPCO’s VC&CEO the Platinum Sponsor also showed his interest in this project stating that “The Imagine Cup is a great initiative for the youth of Qatar and I am very pleased that QAPCO will be collaborating with Microsoft on this event. This competition is a great way to encourage innovation and creativity and I hope that all the teams from our Universities and Colleges who participate this year will enjoy the event. It will also be an invaluable experience for the students as it will develop and enhance their team working, communication and problem solving skills and will ensure that some true leaders will emerge over the coming months”.
Microsoft and QAPCO are working actively together to run Imagine Cup this year. Students are also in the process of submitting their entries before the application deadline of the 1st of February 2013. We will be shortlisting the best 5 teams to qualify for the local finals that we plan to hold on the 25th of March 2013. During the local final event, the top student teams will be pitching their ideas to a wide audience of families, students, faculty and partners, together with a top notch judging panel and Dr. Hessa Al Jaber (Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology, ictQatar.) attending as our honorary guest. The best team will be selected to represent Qatar at the Global Finals in St. Petersburg, Russia in July 2013. We’re looking forward to seeing our students excel, demonstrating their great creativity and technical skills to present innovations that will make a difference in our world. There will be many more related events coming up to prepare for the final event, so stay tuned to get more of our updates soon!