DIT is set to represent Ireland in the Microsoft-backed Imagine Cup – the world’s premier student technology competition which, according to its official website “encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world – today”.

Team Imaginote from DIT, Nikola Nevin and Marco Castorina.

The all-Ireland final of the Imagine Cup  took place last Thursday in the Gleeson Theatre in DIT and, as the official college site trumpeted this morning, the home side took the top two honours.  First prize went to Nikola Nevin and Marco Castorina for their project ‘Imaginote’ – a music and physical therapy application using sound beams that translate physical movements into patterns and sounds.

The DIT press release reveals that the software was developed by Nikola, a fourth year student in the School of Computing and Marco, a Masters student in the Digital Media Centre, with the help from Enable Ireland and Tyrrelstown Educate Together National School.

Second place also went to a DIT team for a project entitled Team Cloud Hands.  This project is a Tai Chi training simulation using 3D graphics, motion capture, speech recognition and augmented reality, was developed by students Frank Han, Johnathan Lynch, Jonathan Plunket and Xu Haoming.

The presentations were made by Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher TD and Paul Rellis, Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland. The competition received 600 entries from colleges across the whole island of Ireland, and the adjudicators and Paul Rellis emphasised that the standard had been “exceptionally high”.

The final stage last week saw twenty projects whittled down by the judges to just five.  Each of the five were then given a further opportunity to ‘sell’ their idea through a five-minute presentation on stage in the Gleeson Theatre.  Following that, the judges made the final decision and announced the winners.

Bryan Duggan, from DIT’s School of Computing, said:  “After two days of intense presentations in Microsoft’s Campus and in DIT, ‘Team Imaginote’ were announced outright winners while ‘Team Cloud Hands’ took second place.

“This represents the culmination of nine months of hard word for both teams and is a fantastic achievement for the students.  Their projects have huge potential for further development and are a great example of how technology innovation can change lives – and the world.”

The Imagine Cup 2010 Worldwide Finals will be held in Warsaw, Poland from July 3-8.