NZ Impress at Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals

Media Release
12 July 2013

New Zealand Students Impress Judges At 2013 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals

University of Auckland students compete in the World Citizenship category at the world’s most prestigious student technology competition, with their Windows Phone App to track UV exposure

New Zealand’s harsh sun led Team InfinityTek to create the award-winning UVsense – an innovative system to prevent skin cancer by combining a custom ultraviolet-light detector that people wear with a Windows Phone app, to measure and monitor a person’s UV exposure.

Eighty six teams from 69 countries competed at the Microsoft Imagine Cup in St Petersburg, which included a prize pool of more than USD$1 million. The World Citizenship category in which Team InfinityTek competed was won by Portugal’s Team for a Better World.

During the judging process however, judges were so impressed with InifintyTek’s sensor app and its potential for other uses that they asked how the team planned to handle its success.

Team InfinityTek represented New Zealand after winning the New Zealand finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition in March. Since then, Daniel Xu, Ming Cheuk, Jacky Zhen, and Muthu Chidambaram have improved their application by miniaturising the custom hardware, redesigning the app’s user interface, and refining their presentation skills.

“We have learnt a lot during the last seven months, and the whole team is really proud to have represented New Zealand. We are thrilled at how far we have come – but our fight to prevent skin cancer is only just beginning,” says Daniel Xu. “We will be investing the prize money back into our start-up company, InfinityTek, to fund the research and development of UVsense and future projects.”

Accompanied by their mentor Richard McLean, who founded the IP and software exporting advisory firm ‘Concept to Market,’ Team InfinityTek travelled to St. Petersburg last weekend for the gruelling four-day World Finals competition.

The team is working with experts from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) to calibrate the sensor on their custom hardware – and have worked closely with the Cancer Society, the Melanoma Foundation of New Zealand, and a leading dermatologist from the Skin Institute.

The team’s award-winning system UVsense aims to reduce the risk of skin damage from ultraviolet radiation by actively recording the UV radiation that a person is exposed to, and wirelessly sending the information to a Windows Phone app. The app processes this data and gives the user personalised information about their exposure during the day – as well as alerts when they are at risk of skin damage.

“While researching the problem in more detail, we realised how little we actually knew about the effects of UV radiation on the skin,” says Ming Cheuk. “Ever since, we have been more careful about how we protect ourselves from the sun while outside. It really shows that being informed can change behaviour – and we hope that everyone who uses our system will experience the same positive behavioural changes.”

New Zealand students have consistently performed well at the Imagine Cup World Finals – with kiwi teams placing in the top six for the last three years.
• ·         In 2010, Team OneBeep showed judges in Poland their engineering breakthrough that enables streams of data to be sent to impoverished communities across the readily-available FM/AM frequencies.
• ·         In 2011 in New York City, Team OneBuzz demonstrated their system that combines cloud computing, satellite imaging, text messages, and data visualisation to prevent malaria outbreaks.
• ·         Last year, Team MobileEye competed in Sydney with their app that combines a smartphone camera with artificial intelligence and crowd-sourcing technology, to provide vital information for vision-impaired users.

Managing Director of Microsoft New Zealand, Paul Muckleston says the whole Microsoft New Zealand team is very proud of Team InfinityTek and the four inspiring students now join the ranks of other successful kiwi teams who have proven that they have what it takes to compete on the world stage.

“This team embodies the essence of the Imagine Cup - taking on big challenges, being innovative, and using cutting-edge technology to make a difference in the world. Their UVsense system is another game-changing combination of software and hardware developed by kiwis, and we are delighted to have been on this journey with them from the very start!” says Muckleston.

For a full list of winners visit http://imaginecup.com/IC13/WWF/Winners. Visit www.InfinityTek.co.nz to keep up with the team, www.ImagineCup.co.nz for information about the competition in New Zealand and www.ImagineCup.com for insights into the global competition.

ENDS

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