Ateneans top MS software tilt

MANILA, Philippines – Three IT-savvy students of Ateneo de Manila University bagged the top prize in the Imagine Cup 2008, the yearly software design competition sponsored by global software giant Microsoft.

Roderick Tan, 20; Salvador “JR” Reyes Jr., 19; and Wilhansen Joseph Li, 19, of Team 3*Pi/4, submitted a software database program that rates products on their environment-friendliness.

The trio will represent the Philippines in the international Imagine Cup tournament that will be held in Paris, France in July where their winning “Ad Hoc” software program would be pitted against the software programs of students from all over the world.

For the three students, the victory was sweeter coming from bitter runner-up finishes in previous years’ Imagine Cup contests.

“Finally, our hard work and persistence have paid off,” JR Reyes, an incoming Computer Science senior told The STAR.

Team 3*Pi/4’s Ad Hoc bested the entries of four other teams, namely Team Tibecom, also from Ateneo; Team IMI2.0 from Colegio de San Juan de Letran; Team DLS-CSB from De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde; and Team Tala comprised of students from the University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Philippine Christian University.

Team Tibecom composed of Marion Joren Olmillo, Kristine Ester Pascual and Victor Patrick Tanedo, was named first runner-up with a software program dubbed GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out), which seeks to provide households with a system to track their garbage output and assist in the segregation of wastes.

Second runner-up was Team DLS-CSB composed of Riela Isabel Antonio, Arjay Orcasitas, and Roberto Galang Jr. that submitted the software program entry “Philippine Prairie Watch.”

The entry seeks to provide a software program to track wildlife profile and monitor the movements of animals in forests or jungles, thus aiding in efforts of environment groups to protect them.

Participating teams were paired with environmental non-government organizations so they can come up with software programs that could help their NGO-partners in their operations.

Tim Vergel de Dios, Academic Developer Evangelist of Microsoft Philippines, expressed satisfaction over the quality of entries submitted by the participants.

“We want to congratulate everyone who competed this year. In the Imagine Cup, everyone is a winner. It is a venue where students anywhere in the world would explore and push the limits of software to see how they can address the toughest problems that we are facing today,” Vergel de Dios said.

“This competition gives us a peek at the potential of the students to become great business and technology leaders. We can also witness new innovations that can have a transformative and lasting impact on the way we live,” Vergel de Dios added.