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On Tuesday, Higher Education Commission (HEC) announced the National Winners of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2018. The winning team will represent Pakistan at the global finals, taking place in Seattle, US this June.
25 teams from various universities across Pakistan competed in the National Finals. Team “Fe Amaan” representing National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS) secured the winning spot and will now compete in the global finals to score $100,000. Team “Data Warriors” from City University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar and Team “IoT Solutions” from Bahria University Karachi were first and second runner-ups respectively.
The NUST team has built a wearable Fetal Health Monitoring system that prevents miscarriages by using data analytics. The wearable kit works on an IoT model equipped with sensors and connected to a handheld application integrated with Azure databases. The first-runner ups from City University, Peshawar has built an Indoor Positioning System to help organizations track employees at a particular time. Lastly, the Bahria Universiy team from Karachi has built an Air Quality Sensor that can detect air pollutants in a limited range and provide analysis by using Azure Machine Learning Services.
Speaking at the ceremony, Abid Zaidi, Country General Manager of Microsoft encouraged students and said, “The way we look at our students, we feel that they are the agents of change and they just need the right set of tools to succeed.”
In the Regional Finals, a number of 110 projects from all over Pakistan were judged across four regions. Out of these 110 projects, the top 25 teams qualified for the National Finals. In order to encourage students to pursue ICT innovations, students from 28 universities also showcased their innovations at the ceremony.
Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director of HEC is positive that Pakistan will make it big in the global finals of the technology competition. He said, “Imagine Cup is all about innovation, transformation and what comes next. I am proud of our students for participating in this global event and I am sure they will bring laurels for Pakistan”
Similar to previous years, HEC once again collaborated with Microsoft to simulate the Regional and National Finals of the recent edition of Imagine Cup. The international technology competition is now running in its 16th year, bringing an opportunity for student innovators from all over the world to transform the future with technology
The story has been updated to incorporate project descriptions.
