Invisible Ideas steals the Microsoft show, heads to Warsaw

Entertaining educational games and kiosks with wearable medical equipment were some of the highlights at the India finals of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Student Competition 2010.

Supreeth S, a student of SSN College of Engineering in Chennai, emerged as the winner. He will now represent India at the world finals that will be held at Warsaw in Poland in July. Supreeth’s team, Invisible Ideas, invented computer games that helped students learn while playing.

More than 85,000 students from colleges across India registered for the competition this year, of which five teams competed in the India finals. They had to provide solutions to problems identified by the United Nations in its Millennium Development Goals. 

“This is a dream come true. My project is a simple solution to accelerate the literacy ratio in our country by making education interesting. I hope I can make India proud at the world finale,” Supreeth said.

Team RSS from Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology, Chembur, was adjudged the first runners-up. Their project focused on providing medical assistance in rural areas through a network of medical kiosks equipped with portable/wearable medical equipment. “The kiosk will be equipped with communication services to effectively transmit information wherever needed. Primary healthcare centres will have basic facilities and will be manned by paramedical staff,” said Shailesh Lohia, a team member.

Team Inferno representing University College of Engineering, Punjab University, stood third for their Prakash Educational Software package, that would hone reading, writing and listening skills of primary school children.

Shailee Thaker, a third year student of Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Communication and Technology, invented a concept called Panic Button, which was a sequence of specified keys that a woman in distress could press on her mobile to trigger a call to the nearest police station and people residing in her area, without giving away the fact that she was calling for help.

Felicitating the winners, G Madhavan Nair, former Isro chairman, said, “Youngsters have a high level of competence and are ready to take up challenges of any level.”