On Friday, a brilliant team of students showed CEO Satya Nadella just what they're capable of when he crowned Team eFitFashion of Brazil as the winning team of the 2015 Imagine Cup World Championship during a live broadcast and in front of an audience of 5,000 students, judges, partners and Microsoft employees at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle.
Team eFitFashion' s project, Clothes For Me, is a marketplace for custom tailored clothes based on a person's unique body size and shape.
"All of you represent that passion to dream the impossible and make it possible. I want you to keep that dream alive," Nadella told the Imagine Cup competitors Friday. "What you started at this competition is going to grow, because of your passion, your dreams, your ability to take it forward and your ability to learn on the way. It's such a pleasure for me to see the passion and the innovation you have demonstrated today."
Our panel of distinguished judges – Thomas Middleditch, star of the hit HBO show "Silicon Valley;" Alex Kipman, inventor of HoloLens; and Jens Bergensten, lead developer of Minecraft – had their work cut out for them as they decided between the top three Imagine Cup teams, narrowed down from tens of thousands of teams from across the globe.
Over this past week, our judges chose a first-place winner in each of the three Imagine Cup competition categories: Team IzHard of Russia for Games, Team eFitFashion of Brazil for Innovation and Team Virtual Dementia Experience of Australia for World Citizenship. The first-place teams then competed in front of the world to take home the Imagine Cup and to receive a private meeting with Satya Nadella, our CEO.
The 2016 season of Imagine Cup launches today, as well, and it's never too early for students to start dreaming up their next projects and getting prepared by visiting our website.
We're finding talented student developers at younger and younger ages, too – last week we shared the results of a new competition for students as young as 9 years old, and the work they did was impressive. We'll have more opportunities for younger students coming in August and continuing all season long.
When Bill and Paul started Microsoft in college, they were talented and fearless.
We see that spirit every day in the students who learn to code through Microsoft Imagine and go on to compete in the Imagine Cup. Working with students like these is an honor and a profound responsibility, one that Microsoft cherishes.
Especially on days like today, when we see the incredible work students can do when they connect with technology and dream big.
