WKU Weetap group won the first prize in 2017 Microsoft Imagine Cup

WKU Weetap group won the first prize in 2017 Microsoft Imagine Cup

On May 17, the Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU) Weetap group from the Computer Science major won the first prize in 2017 Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition in Shanghai, after two rounds of fierce competition among 27 groups from other top Chinese universities. The prize is accompanied by an 8,000 RMB reward.

WKU Weetap group is mentored by Dr. Pinata Winoto, Assistant Professor of Computer Sciences at WKU, and consists of a WKU senior student, Christine Piao Chen and two students from Northwestern University and Cornell University respectively.  Christine Piao Chen represented the team to demonstrate their project in the final.  WKU Weetap group developed a highly customizable spatial memory training application for the senior citizens (especially those with mild cognitive impairment and dementia). Through cloud-based behavioral modeling, it can enable personalized spaced retrieval training.

Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition.  Since the first Imagine Cup in 2003, 1.65 million students from more than 190 countries and regions participated in the competition. Until 2015, more than 100,000 Chinese students participated in the Imagine Cup which has been dubbed as the “Programming Cup” in China and has had a huge influence on Chinese IT and Internet industries. Microsoft Imagine Cup empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion, and knowledge of technology to create applications that shape how we live, work and play, and bring that great idea to life.

It is the second consecutive win of a WKU group in such a prestigious competition. Last year, a CPS freshmen group mentored by Dr. Winoto entered the 2016 Imagine Cup Semi-final and won the third prize. Christine Piao CHEN has already received an offer from University of Pennsylvania, studying further for the CPS mater degree in the Fall Semester.