yMedia Crew member Aurelie shares her impressions of the Microsoft Imagine Cup held on Friday the 31st of April:
As I stepped in the doors of Auckland University’s brand spanking new Owen G Glenn building, it became instantly clear to me that Microsoft does not do things by halves.
Running late, I was disappointed to find out I’d completely missed yMedia’s Change It event, but glad I made it just in time to catch the sense of the excitement in the air as hundreds of students and supporters gathered in the foyer.
As I listened in on all the animated conversations, I anticipated something great was about to happen. Soon enough, 7:00pm came ‘round and people began heading towards the auditorium.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, and had no idea what an event like this had in store. I’ve never been in a crowd of people with bang-bang sticks before, and I have to say it sure added to an already amping atmosphere!
The speakers all had one major message to put across, effectively summarised by Diane Holland’s catchy phrase: “Small country, big voice”. New Zealand has a knack for raising creative, open-minded people, and this is reflected in our great achievements in areas such as film and digital media.
New Zealanders can be proud of the fact that they are greatly over-represented in award-winning companies (such as Diane’s Massive Software) in the global arena because of their innovation.
When the teams began presenting their technological solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, I was in complete awe. These were uni students. Solving the world’s problems! It was one of the most inspiring things I have seen in a long while.
From being told that as a New Zealander I have a myriad of opportunities available to me, to seeing some of the brightest young minds in the country grab hold of those very opportunities, I couldn’t help but wonder, what else is possible?
In the end, the winning team was OneBeep. Their solution? Going to the root of most of the world’s other problems, by contributing to the education of those most in need. Their system of transmitting digital files via radio waves will allow those lucky enough to have benefited from the One Laptop per Child campaign, to now receive up-to-date educational programmes directly to their desktop through a radio.
An amazing feat, which is sure to give New Zealand a very good chance at winning the world final of the Imagine Cup in Poland. It’s important to remember that we all have the potential to use our imagination to make a huge impact on the world. And thanks to endeavours such as the Imagine Cup and the yMedia Challenge, we can be inspired to think bigger than ourselves.
[Photo thanks to James Hancox, Photo for Charity]
