The Imagine Cup Canada 2012 registration officially opens today with the theme: imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.

Courtesy: Flickr/JohnnyBoy. The Imagine Cup has recieved celebrity recognition including an article by Bill Gates.

The annual world premier student technology competition is open to post-secondary and high school students and is geared towards those in game design and software design programs.

Livy Felgajer, a representative for Imagine Cup told thedailyplanet.com this is the first time a local Imagine Cup competition is being held in Canada.

“It’s a chance for students to be among the first Canadian student innovators to come together and solve real world problems through technology,” said Felgajer.

“The Imagine Cup is a global competition that empowers and inspires passion and idealism in students and encourages them to apply classroom learning to solve real-world problems,” said Gladstone Grant Vice-President of the Developer and Platform Group at Microsoft.

Students who register have a choice of two platform categories: Windows Phone 7 Game Design and Software Design.

Participants are to gear their projects to the competition’s theme by creating designs and come up with technology that solve world and social issues.

“It seems like a bunch of baloney,” John Horowitz, 26, a worker in IT for over six years told thedailyplanet.com, “It doesn’t make sense that software and game design can help solve world problems.”

Others in the industry like Khari Atiba who has been in software design and IT for a total of 18 years thinks this competition is beneficial for students.

“If enough people try to attempt to solve a problem, somebody can come up with an idea to solve it,” said Atiba.

The competition gives participants the chance to use a teacher, professor, or an expert in the industry as a mentor to guide them with their projects.

“I would love to mentor. I am sure we could come up with a piece of software or an idea for software that could help out the world in some way,” Atiba said.

First place finalist of Imagine Cup 2009, William Hoang, said his experience in the competition is unforgettable.

“Students gain valuable technical skills, learn how to overcome challenges, build friendships and gain real-world experience,” said Hoang.

The top three teams in both categories will be flown to Toronto for the Canadian finals, then the winning Software Design team in Canada, and the top 10 international finalists in the Game Design category will be flown to Sydney Australia in July to compete in the worldwide finals.

Students will also have the chance to win cash, grants, and other prizes.

The deadline for the Game Design registration is Feb. 14. and March 13 for Software Design.

Students can register online at the Imagine Cup website. 

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