Amazing! Exceptional! Brilliant! Creative! Absolutely awesome! These were only some of the words used by different persons to describe the projects of the finalists of the 2008 Imagine Cup competition, organised by Microsoft Corporation in Paris, France, last week.

There was, for example, the Irish Team AcidRain's car, 'Voila' that was driven all the way from Ireland to Paris on vegetable oil, completely carbon neutral; Korean Team TreeTalk, whose project bore the same name, 'talked with trees' by analysing small electrical signals produced by the trees and feeding these into their algorithm to detect 'how the trees felt', whether ill or not.

Australia's Team SOAK's Smart Operational Agriculture Toolkit(SOAK) sought to help farmers achieve sustainable use of their land, while Team Well K'Home from France, displayed the Frenchman's love for cooking, through its project, Smart Cooking that transformed a kitchen into an intelligent room. The games, photos, short videos, among others, were no less impressive.

In a message to the competition, Microsoft's Chairman, Bill Gates described it as the most exciting of all the programmes the company is involved with, and there are hundreds of them every year. Having met some finalists and seen their projects, he said, "each year I come away from Imagine Cup with a renewed optimism for the future, and for the capacity of people - particularly young people, to see challenges in new ways and deliver innovations that can truly change the world for the better."

No fewer than 200, 000 students from more than 100 countries entered for this year's competition, about a year ago out of which 370 students from 124 teams representing 61 countries made the finals.

They competed in nine categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, 'Project Hoshimi' (Programming Battle), IT Challenge, Algorithm, Photography, Short Film and Interface Design, working around the theme: 'Imagine a World Where Technology Enables a Sustainable Environment'.

A total of 13 countries represented Microsoft's Middle East and Africa region in the Software Design competition, most of them for the first time. They were Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Others were South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and United Arab Emirates.

Algeria's Team PolyGeek's PickMeUp focused on Carpooling, using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Services (GIS) to reduce the number of cars on the road by enabling real-time car sharing, through a Pocket PC or with just a GSM cell phone. Democratic Republic of Congo's Neuro JJET Team designed a Software entitled, Talatala to calculate environmental performance indicators for a specific location.

Egypt's Creative Mind Team's presented a project named Mine Hunter, which helps to manage disasters. Jordan's Team PSUT, which focused on global warming, also presented a project named, ISEVA (Intelligent Stack Emission Video Analysis) that promised a new affordable, uncomplicated technique for the monitoring of stack emissions from various sources at a distance.

Morocco's DREAMTeam1, sought to manage disasters in a general way through its CATCH IT! project. Nigeria's Team CarBurn, all students of the University of Lagos, focussed on global warming and presented a project that went by the same name CarBurn, a part of a proposed framework, made of three components (the chip firmware, the web service, and the data centre) that work together to create better environmental conditions by measuring carbon emissions.

Pakistan's TeamVIEW's focus was on Sustainable Cities / Pollution, by employing its Volunteer Internet Environment Watch (VIEW) to check environmental degradation.

Saudi Arabia's Team Enviromate's project, also of the same name, is a tool for detecting, visualising, and correcting environmental pollution in an innovative manner.

South Africa' Team Smile designed a Software it called WhereIsMyShuttle? a fully integrated, functional transportation system. From Tunisia came Team WHAMTun whose project, MondeParfait educates young people to protect the environment, Turkey's Team L'orientalis focussed on forests and trees with its project that bore the same name, by showing people an easy way to increase the number of trees. Uganda's Team Native Green, all students of Makerere University, also presented a project that went by that name, to effectively reach and sensitise the public, through phones and radio on various environmental safety measures.Not the least, the AUS Team from the United Arab Emirates designed PolluMap, an automated system that enables the supervision of air quality in urban cities and communities. The project involves using a set of mobile sensors that keep track of different pollutants' levels across the city.

However, only South Africa, which had been participating from the first edition of the competition, advanced to the semi-finals. It went on to make the list of six teams that were given the opportunity to explore how their software solutions could potentially turn into business realities, through an intensive business and technology training, as part of the Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator programme, co-sponsored by Microsoft and British Telecommunications (BT) Plc.

At the end of the intense competition, Australia 's Team SOAK lifted the 'Imagine Cup' by winning the Software Design category, which is the flagship of the competition. It came with a cash prize of $15, 000. Slovakia 's Team Housekeepers came second and Hungary's Team DigitalMania, third, wining $10, 000 and $5, 000, respectively.

Singapore's Team Trail Blazers won the Embedded Development contest. For the first in the competition, there was a tie as both Team AcidRain from Ireland and Team Wings from China came second in this category, whileTeam Aero@PUT from Poland came third, all winning the same prize money as the Software Design winners.

First prize in Game Development went to Brazil's Team Mother Gaia Studio. Belgium's Team Drunk Puppy Productions came second and Korea 's Team GOMZ.In the programming battle, 'Project Hoshimi' Russia's Team Red Devils came first, followed by China 's Team Zephyr and Team Dream Team from Ukraine, third.In the IT Challenge, where the individual competed for 24 hours, non-stop, France came first, followed by Romania and China, winning $8, 000, $4, 000 and $3, 000 in that order.

The same amount of money was won by the first, second an third place winners of the of the Algorithm category, otherwise known as 'The Brain Power' - Ukraine, Hungary and Japan; as well as the Photography category, where the contestants also went on for 24 hours. The best three here were the United States of America 's Team Provisio, Austria' Team Austria and Croatia's Team Voodoo Delirium

Finalists in the Short Film category competed for 36 hours non-stop, at the end of which Korea's Team NEIP came first and won $8, 000, a trip to the Roxy JAM and distribution deal with Paramount Pictures. Mexico's Team Lava Lamp and Canada's Robotree came second and third. United States 's Team IU EcoVis won the Interface Design category, followed by Canada's Team GreeNet and France's Team Edelweiss, all winning the same amount as those before.

In addition to the category awards, five Achievement Awards were presented. The Rural Innovation Achievement Award, sponsored by Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group was won by Indonesia's Antarmuka. It was is designed to recognise the software solution that contributes toward a more sustainable environment and best helps promote the social and economic growth of underserved populations in developing countries and regions and best helps them better meet their basic needs.

Project WebAnywhere, by Jeffrey Bigham, a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science from the University of Washington, United States, won the Accessible Technology Achievement Award, designed to recognise the interface design solution that makes it easier for anyone to see, hear and use a computer, and to customise their computing environment according to their own preferences, needs and abilities. An additional onsite challenge was won by France's Team JivAd.

The Interoperability Achievement Award, designed to recognise the software solution that best leverages Microsoft technologies to connect people, data or diverse systems to help address real-world customer needs, was won by India 's Team SKAN.

The Windows Live Achievement Award, designed to recognise the software solution that makes the best use of the Windows Live platform and adds new social dimensions to both new and old Web sites and Web projects, was won by Spain's Windows Drive. Apart from the plaque which all awardees got, this set of awards also came with the sum of $10, 000 each.

The Engineering Excellence Achievement Award, sponsored by Microsoft's Enterprise Engineering Centre, to recognise three outstanding teams from the Software Development category that have created solutions that demonstrate the potential to be developed to scale with focused guidance from a Microsoft Engineer, was won by Bulgaria's Team Atlas, USA's Team Sparx and Russia's Team Ignition

Six finalist teams were also the opportunity to explore how their software solutions could potentially turn into business realities. They will receive intense business and technology training as part of the Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator programme, co-sponsored by Microsoft and British Telecommunications plc (BT). Australia's Team SOAK, France's Team Well K'Home, Germany's Team PoinT-Power in Time, Hungary's Team Digital Mania, Slovakia's Team Housekeepers and South Africa's Team Smile.

"The creativity demonstrated by the competitors this year has shown that tomorrow's technology leaders are ready to apply their solutions to real-world issues," said Joe Black, director of Business Development for Emerging Technologies, BT. "The Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerator is an exceptional opportunity for young developers to explore the entrepreneurial possibilities of their software solutions. We are excited to offer our encouragement, guidance, and support to these talented students through comprehensive training sessions to help students bring their ideas to fruition."

It was not all work and competition though. From the opening ceremony at the magnificent Paris City Hall otherwise known as the Hotel de Ville to the closing ceremony at the no less magnificent Musee du Louvre, participants said the week-long event was fun all the way.

On the Cultural Day, students had the option of choosing from five different walking tours around Paris, which was rounded off with an evening dinner boat ride on the Seine. Nigeria's team was the Louvre Museum, where it saw, among others, the Mona Lisa.

The Imagine Cup was founded in 2003, with only the Software Design category and has travelled the world from Barcelona , Spain to Sao Paolo Brazil (2004), to Yokohama Japan (2005), to New Delhi, India (2006), to Seoul, South Korea (2007), Paris, France (2008) and is now going to Cairo, Egypt next year.

There is no telling how far the contestants can go. Past winners have utilised the opportunities offered by the competition to advance their careers, as three of them testified at this year's contest. "For me, the Imagine Cup was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore the power of software, make new friends from around the globe who share my passion for innovation and technology, and leverage the event as a starting point for my career," said Vincent Bellet, a finalist from Imagine Cup 2006. "After the Imagine Cup final, I received more than 50 job offers from different companies. To win the French finals and to be a worldwide finalist for a competition sponsored by Microsoft has been a great plus on my resume."

With a $600, 000 grant from the Brazilian government, Carlos Rodrigues, another former finalist now has a software company that employs about 10 people. Yet another, Valy Greavu is now an Assistant Professor of Business Information Systems at the oldest university in Romania, Alexa dru Ioan Cuza University.

Members of the Africa agreed that participating in the finals was an important learning process for them - so much to learn and catch up with. They also expressed strong determination to do better next year. More so when Imagine Cup 2009 will be held in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. The theme is 'Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today'. Students have been asked to create software solutions that are aligned to one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Nigerian, indeed, African students' commitment and determination are not in doubt, but, as the Paris finals showed, these are not enough to get to the top. They need adequate preparation and support from their institutions, government and the private sector. Microsoft could not held what many participants described as "an unforgettable experience" in Paris without the support of Air France, Avanade, BT, Dassault Systemes, HP, Novotel, Paramount Pictures Corp. and Quicksilver Inc.

A number of the countries got incredible local support (public and private) at the national levels. Two organisations supported the competition in Belgium, three in Finland, 10 in France, eight in Germany, three in India, five in Ireland, two in Italy, One each in Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland and Spain; as well as eight in Russia, four in Serbia, four in South Africa and three in Turkey.

Apart from Microsoft and the mentoring of their lecturer, Dr. Ebuoluwa Fasina, the Nigerian team got nothing from anywhere. Indeed, it had to run from pillar to post, looking for 'mere' electric power to work. Will Nigerian students and their counterparts all around the continent receive the needed support to impact their societies through this competition? Only time will tell as the local preliminaries roll out in different countries beginning next month.