Imagineers in world-class competition final

23 June 2009

Four BU students will represent the UK at an international student technology competition, taking place in Egypt this July.

A team of BU students from the School of Design, Engineering & Computing, has won the UK round of the Imagine Cup, the World’s Premier Student Technology Competition, endorsed by Microsoft.

Stephen Marks, Daniel Lisle, Paul Grattage and Karsten Pedersen, under their mentor, Dr Cornelius Ncube, won the Game Development category and will now go forward to the world final in Egypt to represent the UK, on 4 July 2009.

This represents two ‘firsts’ for BU, as not only did the team come first, it was also the first time the University had entered a team in the competition.

The win is particularly prestigious as its shows the BU team using software technology to address global issues.

Team member Daniel Lisle explained the concept of the team’s game:”We wanted to focus on the idea of pollution, and the basic theme that there are two types of people in the world; one type wants to look after the earth and the other wants to destroy it. We pushed the concept to show that how you treat the planet can have a real effect.”

Ed Dunhill from Microsoft said: “It’s a really big achievement; we didn’t have any kind of guarantee that there would be a UK team in the final, so we’re absolutely thrilled that these guys have pulled out all the stops and produced a great entry so that they can represent us.”

Team mentor and BU academic Dr Cornelius Ncube added: “I really was impressed with their dedication to this project. It involves a lot of time and effort, and we wanted to make sure they were given space and facilities to focus on the development of the game. I think they’ve got a great chance in the final.”

Previous UK winners have spent time working with Microsoft in the US and then gained jobs with Microsoft.

Open to students around the world, the Imagine Cup is a serious challenge that draws serious talent, and the competition is intense. The contest spans a year, beginning with local, regional and online contests whose winners go on to attend the global finals held in a different location every year.