#AUISEvents

Sulaimani, Iraq – May 17, 2012 – As testament to the stellar Information Technology program offered at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), the top three spots at the 2012 Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition, the world's premier student technology competition, were awarded to AUIS teams. The winning team, Mirage Tech, will go on to Sydney, Australia in July to compete at the Imagine Cup 2012 Worldwide Finals. This is the second consecutive year that AUIS has performed extremely well in the competition. In 2011, the top two spots were awarded to AUIS teams, which allowed one group of students to travel to New York City for the Worldwide Finals. This year, of the 41 teams present, six were from AUIS. Further, when top ten teams were announced, five were from AUIS. “Winning the top three this year and the top two last year of the Imagine Cup Kurdistan competition is evidence of the quality of the IT program at AUIS,” said Dr. Hemin Latif, Assistant Professor and Convener of the IT Program at AUIS.  “AUIS is clearly becoming a unique educator in the field of IT, and more is yet to come from our students.” The Imagine Cup is a competition that brings students together to create innovative solutions to the world’s toughest problems through the power of IT. Since 2003, over 1.4 million students have participated in the Imagine Cup with 358,000 students representing 183 countries and regions registering for the Imagine Cup 2011 competition. This year, students created projects inspired by the Imagine Cup 2012 theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems. The winning team, which consisted of AUIS students Soma Faraj, Heja Mohammed, and Yad Faeq, created a Windows phone application that would allow drivers in developing countries to report accidents and traffic jams to a central database.  The application then tags the driver’s location using a Global Positioning System and can warn users to avoid the area. Other outstanding projects developed by AUIS students included a home automation system, a health program that connects doctors to expecting mothers, a game based on Angry Birds that promotes environmental responsibility, and an application that allows individuals to photograph local issues, such as garbage or a fire, and post them to a central database accessed by NGOs. All presentations at the Imagine Cup were given in English, which Latif believes gave AUIS students a leg-up on the competition. "Our students were at an advantage because they are fluent in English and frequently give presentations in their classes," he said. "Other universities just don't offer that." The event was organized by the KRG Department of IT and Microsoft. Sponsors included: Zain, The Gloden Screen Film and Media Company, Nokia, Senk Group, Mass Group Holding, Marathon Oil, The Chwarchra Hotel, CIS Erbil, LLS Group and PowerCAMPUS. To learn more about the Imagine Cup, click here. To see photos of the Imagine Cup on our Facebook page, click here.