Microsoft & HEC Pakistan to host Imagine Cup with $100,000 prize money

Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Microsoft are teaming up again to bring Microsoft’s Imagine Cup – the premium student technology competition- to Pakistan.

Started in 2003, Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is an opportunity for students and young innovators from all around the world to bring their ideas and imagination to life. It gives them a chance to show that how their technologies and software solutions will change the world.

Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is happening in Pakistan for more than a decade now. It is an incredible opportunity for the youth of Pakistan to participate and utilize their potential and passion towards creating technological solutions, their Final Year Projects and compete to win $100,000. With prizing that includes mentorship opportunities with industry leaders, an Azure grant and cash, Imagine Cup can help you take your project to the next level.

Microsoft Azure, an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform, will be required for all the projects.

How to enter the competition?

• Register for the Competition. Azure is required for all projects ( Get FREE Azure for Students or Visual Studio Dev Essentials)

• Create or join an Imagine Cup team. Imagine Cup teams are made of up to three eligible students. You can create a team from your profile page.

• Submit your project. You can submit and check the status of your entry from your Account page. The plan of submission for both regional and national finals of Pakistan is given below.

Imagine Cup Pakistan Schedule

The teams will first compete at the regional level and then the winning teams will qualify for national level. A mix of judges from both academia (as directed by HEC) and industry evaluates the solutions during both rounds.

During both national and international levels, the evaluations will be made on the basis of deliverables submitted on Imagine Cup site. The requirements are: Project title, description, proposal, software, software instructions and video OneDrive URL. (The video should be a maximum of 3 minutes in length).

Technology will be the primary judging criteria. Regional & National Finals detailed per team plan and relative winner’s announcements will be made on Official MSDN Pakistan Community Blog.

The details about Azure account and rules and regulations of competition can be found here.