Bangalore, July 23 2018: Every year, hundreds of thousands of computer science students from across the world sign up for the Microsoft Imagine Cup to showcase their innovative ideas. From high-tech wearable devices diagnosing patients in real-time to drones that shorten response times to natural disasters, the annual competition has surfaced some of the most ground-breaking ideas from the brightest minds of the next generation.
This year, over 10,000 Indian students from more than 50 institutions participated in the India leg of the competition this year. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions dominated the stage with over 60 percent of the solutions powered by AI. A team of Microsoft evangelists and student partners have toiled over several months hosting camps and events at college campuses to ensure students have everything they need to build their solutions.
“Over the past seven months we have been working with students on ideation and the use of technology, especially AI, to power their projects,” says Annie Matthew, Senior Director – Evangelism, Commercial Software Engineering, Microsoft India.
A combination of cutting-edge AI and a focus on solving real world problems for a wider impact helped the three winning teams – RealVol from IIIT Delhi, DrugSafe from R.V. College of Engineering, Bengaluru, and Practikality from Amity International School, Delhi – stand out.
“It’s amazing to see the culmination of innovative ideas and extreme hard work by these students from across the country,” says Anant Maheshwari, President Microsoft India. “They’re trying to solve problems of today with cutting-edge technology. More than anything else, this gives us hope and a lot of excitement for what is to come. These young minds are really breaking barriers and I’m excited that Microsoft is supporting that process.”
These three teams are among the 49 teams from across the globe that will participate in the World Finals which will be held between July 23-25 at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The winners stand a chance to win $100,000  and a mentorship session with Satya Nadella.|
This year students also stand a chance to win three special awards, worth $15,000 each, for innovative and world-changing ideas in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Mixed Reality.

 You can watch the championship via live stream at ImagineCup.com at 9:30 p.m. IST on Wednesday, July 25.