Imagine Cup Inspiration

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting with several Imagine Cup teams from the Boston area, including teams from Harvard, MIT, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Holyoke Community College. I was in awe of the students and their passion, intelligence, focus, drive and innovation. It’s inspiring to see motivated students using the latest technology to create functional applications to help solve our world’s most serious and critical issues. Let me give you a few examples.

 

One team turned a Windows Phone 7 into a mobile malaria diagnosis lab to help address and prevent one of the world’s most preventable diseases. Another team developed a Windows Phone 7 application designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness of disaster relief crews and teams through GPS information. The team’s mentor is from Haiti and experienced the devastating earthquake, so this project is near and dear to him.

 

I was happy to learn after my meeting with the teams that one of them, Texting Towards Healthier Villages (TTHV), was announced as one of only 22 finalists headed to our corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA, this week for the U.S. Finals. TTHV’s project Remindavax is a healthcare solution that improves patient attendance for maternal and child healthcare. For example, women can register to receive text messages reminding them of their doctor appointments as well as their children’s vaccinations. The project also helps community health workers organize their village visits to ensure patients who cannot access the health centers get needed care. The team who wins the U.S. Finals will go on to the Worldwide Imagine Cup finals, held in New York in July. I wish all of the teams I had the honor to spend time with the best of luck with the innovations they are working on and all the best to TTHV in the next round of competition this weekend!

 

Please read more about team TTHV and the rest of the U.S. Finalists on Facebook. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite team in the People’s Choice Awards. You can vote once per day until the voting closes this Saturday, April 9.

 

By: Craig Hodges, Northeast District General Manager