By Emeka AGINAM, just back from New York

While unveiling plans to launch a three-year, $3 million competitive grant programme to help recipients realize their vision of solving the world’s toughest problems, software giant, Microsoft at the end of Imagine Cup 2011 and awards ceremony held last Wednesday at the David H. Koch Theater Lincoln center in New York,declared Team Hermes from Ireland as the top winners in the software design competition.

IMAGINE CUP OPENING: From left, Arthur Van der Veen of the New York City Department of Education, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer and Jon Perera, also of Microsoft at the opening of the 2011 Imagine Cup. Photo: Chuck Lawton).

The team designed a device that plugs into a car and monitors dangerous driving behaviour and road conditions, providing instant feedback to both the driver and car owner.

The team’s solution uses embedded technology, Windows Phone 7, Bing Maps and the Windows Azure cloud computing platform to change driving habits and reduce road deaths, which claim a significant number of young lives each year.

With its victory, the team won $25,000 (U.S.). “We have a problem in Ireland; that problem is deaths on our roads,” Team Hermes member James McNamara, said with excitement, adding, “thanks to Microsoft and the Imagine Cup, we’ve been able to come together to solve this problem and save lives.”

In the Embedded Development category, Team NTHUCS from Taiwan won first place and US $25,000. Its project, Right! This Way, computes the safest fire escape routes, detected by a wireless sensor network in real time.

The event was the culmination of a six-day celebration of technology, hard work and ingenuity. Narrowed from more than 350,000 global registrants, more than 400 students from 70 countries traveled to New York to compete at the world finals.

The festivities were graced by capacity audience with remarks from philanthropist, activist and actor Eva Longoria, CEO of the Startup America Partnership Scott Case, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among others.

“The innovators, entrepreneurs and humanitarians who compete in the Imagine Cup have developed an inspiring spectrum of projects, raising the bar higher and higher each year,” said S. Somasegar, senior vice president, Developer Division, Microsoft., adding that , “We are in awe of the students’ solutions for addressing social and real-world challenges, and want to help them take their projects to the next level with the financial, technical and business support they need to change the world.”

In Game Design category, Web, Poland’s Team Cellardoor created the “Book of Elm,” which encourages players to take care of the environment. And in Game Design — Windows/Xbox, Team Signum Games, from Brazil, solved urban problems including health, education and the environment through a strategy game. Each first-place team earned $25,000 (U.S.).

Student projects were frequently inspired by United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and participants seek to solve the world’s toughest problems through technology.

Twenty-four per cent of worldwide finalist projects and 60 per cent of all Game Design projects shed light on environmental issues. Also, 23 percent of projects addressed varying aspects of disaster relief, while 22 percent developed projects that would enhance the lives of people with disabilities.

From a technology perspective, Windows Phone 7 was the most commonly used technology, with 48 percent of teams incorporating this mobile technology into their projects, from finding the nearest recycling center to helping those in a disaster broadcast their locations.

Windows Azure was also popular, with 32 percent of projects relying on the cloud-based platform to aggregate crowd-sourced data and to integrate satellite data, among other uses.