What is it?
The Imagine Cup is the global student technology competition that encourages students to innovate with technology.
Every year students from over 200+ countries submit their project to the competition. The best teams come to Seattle for the Imagine Cup World Finals to compete against other teams for the grand prize of $50,000 USD and other amazing prizes.
For US students, the road to the Imagine Cup World Finals starts right here at home with the US Imagine Cup competition.
How does it work?
- 2 competitions: Fall competition and Spring competition
- 3 categories: Games, Innovation, and World Citizenship
- 3 competition rounds:
Round 1: Qualifying round. Submit a one-page document or a 3-minute video that explains your idea.
Round 2: National Semi-Finals. Submit your project proposal finalized and your software/application/game
Round 3: US Finals. Twelve teams are advanced to this round which will culminate at the US Finals event in Mountain View in April 2015. The selected teams will compete for a chance to advance for the World Semi-finals and World Finals in Seattle in July 2015.
What are the key dates?
Spring Round 1 – Qualifying November 17, 2014 – January 26, 2015
Spring Round 2 – Semi-finals January 27 – March 24, 2015
Spring US Finalists Announced April 1, 2015
US Finals April 22 – 24, 2015
Cash, money, prizes?
Teams who advance to Round 3 win a trip to the US Imagine Cup Finals event in Mountain View in April 2015.
The first place US Imagine Cup Finals winners (one per competition category) will receive $4,000 USD. They will also advance to the Imagine Cup World Semi-Finals for a chance to compete in the World Finals and win $50,000 USD.
Where do I get started?
STEP 1: Register at http://aka.ms/USImagineCup2015
STEP 2: Sign up for the US Imagine Cup competition and pick your category: Games, Innovation or World Citizenship –or compete in all three!
STEP 3: Invite up to three of your brightest friends to join your team
STEP 4: Submit your Round 1 entry by January 26, 2015 (spring competition). In this round, you only need to explain your project idea and how you want to implement it
All the info you need is at http://aka.ms/USImagineCup2015
Questions?
Ping me, or:
- https://www.imaginecup.com/usa
- Games Competition Rules
- Innovation Competition Rules
- World Citizenship Competition Rules
- icus@microsoft.com
@DaveVoyles
