Winners of ‘Microsoft Imagine Cup 2018’ competition in Azerbaijan announced

The National Finals of the "Microsoft Imagine Cup 2018" innovation competition, which was launched in Azerbaijan in February this year with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Copyright Agency, the company "Microsoft Azerbaijan", PASHA Bank and the mobile operator "Nar", have come to an end.

Within the national tour, 15 teams presented their projects to the expert jury that evaluated their unique ideas, innovative technological solutions and their ability to properly present their projects and that assisted the young inventors in creating "Made in Azerbaijan" - branded products.

Teams from 9 universities and SABAH groups took part in the National Finals.

The jury announced the winners of the national tour at an awards ceremony held on May 15 in Baku.

The first place was taken by the "KubiRub" team, which developed a mobile version of the famous Rubik's Cube puzzle. The virtual Rubik's Cube has logos of different companies instead of standard colors on its sides. The user gets bonuses from the companies for completing each side of Rubik's Cube.

The second place was given to the "GuideAmigo" team, which developed a mobile platform for amateur guides (similar to Uber or Taxify). Using this solution, anyone can find a guide in different parts of the city.

And the third place was taken by the "GardenX" team, which developed the project "Smart Flower Pot".

The winner and silver medalist of the National Finals will take part in the CIS Regional Finals to be held on May 19 in Minsk.

At this stage, the projects of teams will be evaluated by the international expert jury, which includes representatives from Azerbaijan.

The winners of the CIS Regional Finals will have the opportunity to participate in the Finals of the Imagine Cup 2018, which will be held in the United States, and to compete for the main prize of 100 thousand dollars that will be spent on the further development of the project.

"The ‘Microsoft Imagine Cup’ competition stimulates the further development and career growth of young people in the innovations sphere. At the same time, it opens up new prospects for young people in this sphere.

Our goal is to reveal the talents of Azerbaijani students and to help them become specialists whose professional skills will be able to meet the requirements of tomorrow’s market.

Together with our partners, we want to create an innovative ecosystem that will be able to bring ‘Made in Azerbaijan’ - branded new ideas and technical solutions to local and international markets," General Director of the company "Microsoft Azerbaijan" Sarkhan Hashimov said.