Thai teams win a chance to compete in Microsoft's Imagine Cup in the United States

Among the recently announced Thai winners of Imagine Cup Thailand’s three competitions were Visionear of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thon Buri, which won the World Citizenship category by producing a wearable interactive device designed for the visually impaired. 

TeamBeta of Mahidol University won the Games category for its “Magical Lands” puzzle game application, which involves players journeying to help a witch collect gems for a king. 

The other winning team was CoZpace of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Lat Krabang, in the Innovations category. CoZpace presented the “CoZpace” collaborative web search interface for sharing search records and interactions.

The three winning teams received royal trophies from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and a cash prize of Bt100,000 and the chance to compete in the World Finals from July 27-31.

Additionally, the top World Citizenship team addressing one of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s themes will receive Bt100,000 and a short promotional video advertising their winning software product.

If the Thailand winners are selected to participate in the World Finals, they also stand a chance to meet and receive a mentoring session with Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft.

The World Finals present opportunities for the students to prepare their respective presentations and skills, along with multiple chances to pitch to Microsoft employees. 

They will also be one of the few people in the world to experience and develop for the Microsoft HoloLens during a student hackathon. 

The students will get to experience the future of holographic computing and software development first hand at the World Finals.

The Thai teams emerged victorious in the Thailand competitions after being short-listed to the final 17 teams, which were selected|from over 100 submissions nationwide. 

The competitions saw the students pitch their innovative ideas to industry professionals and acquire essential business skills that would bring their products to market.

Imagine Cup Thailand, which has been running for 13 years and has been hosted by Microsoft (Thailand) Ltd with the support from partners, is praised as a platform to empower local youth to accelerate Thailand’s digital economy. 

Surangkana Wayuparb, executive director and CEO of Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), said: “The digital economy will drive Thailand’s productivity, enhance the competitiveness of Thai businesses and prepare Thailand for the AEC [Asian Economic Community]. 

“To accelerate the digital economy in Thailand, we need to create more entrepreneurs, enhance youth employability and drive innovation across all sectors.

“We are delighted to partner Microsoft for Imagine Cup that provides a platform for Thai youth to demonstrate their innovation and aspiration for Thailand’s digital economy. 

“ETDA believes in our youth’s innovation and inspiration to fulfil e-commerce, enhance acceptable standards, strengthen cyber-security and recognise the important role of privacy. 

“This partnership also underscores our mutual commitment to drive youth participation and engagement in the digital economy.”

The announcement of Thai winners was also in conjunction with findings unveiled following Imagine Cup’s month-long campaign, Dare to Imagine for Thailand (#daretoimagineTH). 

Over 40 creative ideas for software application development were submitted by Thais nationwide through popular social media platforms. 

The most popular themes were solutions for traffic congestion, followed by education, and managing finances. 

More than 1.65 million students from more than 190 countries have participated in Imagine Cup since its inception. 

Thailand has so far produced three global winners – in 2007, 2010 and 2012 – more than any other country.