Our mission is to appreciate, motivate, and reward students who have a passion for software development.
Spokane, WA and Seattle, WA (PRWEB) August 15, 2013
For the past five years, Imprezzio Global in the fast-developing country of Romania, has hosted a software contest for students enrolled at a university or technical school. Now, parent company Imprezzio Inc. has announced the first-ever U.S. edition, with final judging to take place February 1, 2014 at Eastern Washington University's Spokane campus.
Winners of the Romanian contest, which takes place this November, will be flown to Spokane to speak during the award ceremonies for the U.S. students.
"Our mission is to appreciate, motivate and reward students who have a passion for software development," says Imprezzio President Russell Page. Prizes in the past have included tech toys and cash awards.
Students have until Halloween (October 31) of 2013 to register individually or as a team of two for the Imprezzio Software Contest - U.S. Edition. Phase 1 of the contest involves registration confirmation, check in, and project support. Phase 2 is a final check-in and support as the students assemble a software project in one of the following categories:
- Social/Leisure (Games or social network applications)
- Brainy (Research, artificial intelligence, or security parallelism)
- Easy Living (Smart Homes, or haptic software which improves quality of life for the disabled)
To ensure a level playing field, contest entries must be developed using tools that are free for students. And although the most popular entries have historically fit into the above categories, Imprezzio says it will consider any research, scientific approach to software, complex AI, advanced image recognition or other ideas that show good potential for contest material.
"We do have a list of project ideas prepared for talented students who can’t decide on a topic," says Page.
Blitz, an agility mindgame, won an honorable mention in a previous contest. Previous winner Diana Timar, who majored in Computer Science at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, describes the Imprezzio Software Contest as "amazing," adding that her project Cat Track allows anyone to track their pet with their smartphone by attaching a small device to the animal’s collar.
Other winning projects over the years have included software for:
- Collaborative editing
- Mobile driving assistance
- Mental agility games
- Fingerprint matching
- Clever house assistance
- Robot AIs
- Micro-blogging
- Rescue systems
- Laser micrometers
Page says that winners of the U.S. edition of the software contest will possibly attend the ceremonies in Cluj-Napoca, Romania for the seventh European edition.
"But even students who don’t win cash or a trip benefit from the contest," he adds. "They get a unique networking opportunity with an international mix of students, professors, and IT specialists plus experience to add to their resumes. They put their ideas to the test by competing against their peers, and receive guidance and feedback from specialists, which helps them to improve.
About Imprezzio
For the past 15 years, Spokane-based Imprezzio has been creating leading-edge CRM enterprise software for Fortune 50 clients in the U.S. insurance industry.
About Imprezzio Global
Founded in 2008, Imprezzio’s European branch in Cluj, Romania specializes in enterprise cloud-based applications, mobile applications, existing-system integration, contact and marketing management and embedded hardware solutions.
