Now celebrating its 11th anniversary, the Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world's premier student technology competition - focused on finding solutions to real-world issues. The competition encourages the world's most talented designers, programmers, developers, and technology enthusiasts to tackle - head on - issues related to: the fight against hunger, disaster relief, poverty, secure energy systems, education, disease control, healthcare, the environment, assisting people with disabilities, and many other critical problems.

There were more than 400 projects entered into the New Zealand competition, which saw a broad mix of issues and causes make it into the group of 16 finalists.

Tina Reid, from TechSoup New Zealand was invited to be part of the judging panel for this year's Microsoft Imagine Cup. She was impressed with the calibre of entries, and interested to understand what led these young New Zealanders to their chosen causes and the development of such intricate and innovative ideas and technology.

So we asked the leading teams to explain what led them to their projects. 

Overall winners - Team Mobile Eye developed a mobile application to help the visually impaired in areas of navigation, shopping and even simple day to day activities that can benefit from greater awareness of surroundings.

The team discovered that visual impairment is a significant health problem across the globe with one person in the world going blind every 5 seconds. They worked closely with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind to understand visual impairment and to really understand both the struggles and the needs of those who have a loss of vision.

"We recognised the extensive efforts tailored at the prevention of blindness by leading organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindnes (IAPD). However, after after understanding that vision loss robs people of their well-being and presents a significant economic cost, we made the decision to focus our attention on the wellbeing of those who are already blind." 

"So, our concept was simple - take a photo of your surroundings and hear your phone describe it to you. The technology however is a little more extensive". says Aakash Polra, Team Leader for Team Mobile Eye.

Other teams that were awarded placings include:

Second Place - Team Thought-Wired from the University of Auckland with their solution NOUS which empowers individuals with severe physical disabilities to communicate and interact.

Team Captain Dmitry Selitskiy had a personal motivation behind their project. "It's quite simple, really: I have younger cousin who's got a very severe case of Cerebral Palsy which prevents him from being able to talk, do things, and care for himself. For years my family have been thinking of how to make it possible for him to do at least some of those things. So, he was the initial driving force behind NOUS."

"We wanted to allow people who are unable to speak to communicate with anybody using the mind alone. Besides communication, NOUS opens unlimited possibilities, enabling additional capabilities; from controlling simple devices at home to education, mobility and entertainment applications".

Third Place - Team Aura from the University of Auckland with their modular solution that detects abnormal breathing patterns and could revolutionise the diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Team Captain, Rushabh Trivedy believes that the biggest problem is not the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, but that people are unaware of its implications and for many it remains undiagnosed.

"Whilst researching OSA, I discovered that my best friend's dad suffers from OSA and was on an extensive waiting list to visit a Sleep Lab to get his condition diagnosed. He was feeling lethargic and whilst driving actually fell asleep at the wheel resulting in an accident. Fortunately he was fine, but it showed that with better diagnosis and earlier treatment, perhaps this accident, and others like it could be averted.

"Obstructive Sleep Apnea affects one in ten people, and the worst thing is that 90% of those affected remain undiagnosed. The health and financial implications are drastic, including costs due to related illnesses, lower productivity and even motor accidents. Something had to be done to better diagnose and manage this disorder, and we thought it was time we did just that with our Aura module".

Fourth Place - Team Connect from the University of Auckland with a communication system that responds immediately following a disaster, keeping you connected to loved ones.

Team Captain, Jonny Lin says that the project was a response to a year of disasters. "With the Christchurch earthquake and Japan tsunami, 2011 was known as the year of disasters. After seeing these disasters so close to home, we recognised that if you're in a disaster zone, the first thing you'll want to do is connect with loved ones; and that goes for everyone else around you."

"However, in a disaster, the high traffic causes massive congestion to any remaining cell towers and telcos often struggle to keep communication up and running for days, or even weeks. As the first 72 hours are crucial, any downtime can be catastrophic. So, we developed a communication system that will respond immediately"

The winners, Team Mobile Eye, will be representing New Zealand at the Worldwide Finals in Australia in July.

For more about Microsoft Imagine Cup visit http://www.microsoft.com/nz/imaginecup