Capping six months of intense competition, that spanned universities in the Eastern Mediterranean region and fused technological expertise with innovative spirit, Microsoft Malta Ltd, granted due recognition to the team from the University of Malta, which was placed second in the regional competition of the annual Imagine Cup student technology competition.

The Maltese team, composed of Richard Vella and Mark Chircop, were awarded a prize in recognition of their efforts and the quality of the project submitted.

The Imagine Cup, an annual student technology competition that provides an outlet for university students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom, represents one of many ways in which Microsoft is enabling the world’s community of students to realise their full potential.

Worldwide Imagine Cup teams were invited to compete with the theme: Imagine a world where technology dissolves the boundaries between us.

“This contest is designed to energise the creativity and technical savvy inherent within student technologists throughout the world. It empowers students to apply their creativity, knowledge and technical abilities towards making the world not only a more-connected place but also a better place through technology,” said Microsoft technology specialist Nick Tonna, who coordinated the Maltese involvement in the competition.

He added: “The pioneering spirit of young people in Malta is vitally important to the computer science, engineering and business disciplines, as well as the high-tech industry overall.”

Over the past three years, the Imagine Cup has experienced tremendous growth in the number of students participating and the number of countries and universities represented. Participation by Maltese educational institutions was made possible following the signing of a vertical strategic alliance between the government and Microsoft Malta Ltd in June 2004.

A new service on the online developers’ community site, Connect, was announced. This service entitles the students of .NET clubs in universities to upload their projects and make them available for local partners in each country and match them with job opportunities.

Connect is a Microsoft Developer Community, serving all developers living in the East Mediterranean region: Lebanon, Jordan, Malta, Cyprus and Syria. It is devoted to improving developers’ skills and development practices and aims at being a community for the local developers in order to provide them with valuable opportunities to boost their skills.