On February 7th, the Chicago Microsoft Technology Center hosted students from Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI), and Loyola University for an Microsoft Imagine Cup submission event.
Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, which challenges students to solve the world’s toughest problems with technology, is the largest student technology competition in the world and is similar to a technology student Olympics.
An assortment of talented students were present. Microsoft employees and partners were blown away by the ideas that the students had been developing for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition.
The passion and excitement in the air was palpable as students pitched their ideas to judges on how technology can change the world. Microsoft employees and partners worked with students to polish their ideas before submission. These students represent the fantastic colleges and universities surrounding Chicago.
At the end of the evening it was team Bloom Studio from Tribeca Flashpoint that won the local Imagine Cup Game Design competition.
Bloom Studio team tackled the issue of environmental sustainability in their game SPERO. SPERO teaches players the importance of conserving environmental resources while enforcing the use of alternative energy solutions.
To accomplish this goal, SPERO limits the environmental resources the player has at his or her disposal, which forces the player to seek alternative energy solutions in order to survive.
By placing the player in a volatile world that responds to player action (and inaction), Bloom Studios’s goal is to show the consequences to poor environmental decisions and reward the player for positive changes.
All schools present submitted their project ideas for the US Imagine Cup competition. In mid-April the selected finalist teams from the next round of the Imagine Cup will be competing in the Imagine Cup US finals for a chance to represent the US in the Imagine Cup world finals.
Let’s cheer our local teams onto the finals!