Team PocketDoc mentioned in the blogosphere

Here's a blog entry on team PocketDoc mentioned at the Business Growth Network blog.

Microsoft press release

Here's the press release Microsoft has sent out:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/may06/05-05USImagineCup2006PR.mspx

There was a nice party...

The School of Engineering held a nice party for the Imagine Cup teams. Channel 12 and a radio station from Fredericksburg were onhand. Also, Dr. Robert J. Mattauch, the Dean of the School of Engineering and, Dr. Eugene Trani, the President of the University both came to speak to the winning team. I will post pictures soon.

The VCU blurb

Here's VCU's news piece. It was a hybrid CS/IS team that won last year.

And the press begins to roll in...

Here is a Yahoo News entry on our winning team and the Imagine Cup competition in general.

Here is WTVR's blurb.


VCU continues to raise the bar!

I hope to work with others in the University to coordinate more news coverage in the coming days.

How we did: we are national champs! That's how we did...

VCU Wins the National Finals in the Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Competition

After an hour or so wait, the judges came back with the results of the National Finals...

1st Place: Team PocketDoc (Virginia Commonwealth University)
2nd Place: Emergency Stick (University of Nebraska)
3rd Place: GenkiNet (East Tennessee State University)

WE WON!!! WE WON!!! WE WON!!!

I was beside myself! We (VCU) had gone to the national competition and won the right to compete internationally 2 YEARS IN A ROW!!! My goodness!!! Our students beat out at least 415 other students in the United States (150 total teams) since last Fall to come in first place this year.

To give some perspective on what this will mean internationally in India, look at this table:

Number of students entered from each country

There are tens of thousands of students going for top honors internationally. All of them will know, for the second year in a row, that Virginia Commonwealth University is a force to be reckoned with - full stop!

Of course, Team PocketDoc was ecstatic about their win. These students won $8,000 and the right to represent the United States in August in New Delhi India!

Team PocketDoc receives their check. How will that fit on the airplane?



Our Winners!!!



What a Tremendous Victory!



Moving Forward...

The real work actually starts now. I will continue to work with this team through the summer until their departure to India. I will also continue to keep readers of this blog up-to-date on how the team progresses towards India. Please keep reading and please stay tuned. Also, reflect on just how much of an accomplishment this is for our students and our school. I think it goes without saying that Microsoft is an innovative and influential force in the world of information technology. That we are consistently excelling in their competition - a competition that is exponentially growing outside the United States - speaks volumes concerning the credibility of our students' skills and of the quality of our University.

Thank you for your support.

How we did: Part 3

VCU does well

I left this story off at the elimination rounds. Team PocketDoc, all Comp Sci grad students, prevailed in their elimination bracket on Friday and also eliminated Team Asclepius in that elimination round - this was a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, VCU had made it into the top 3 this year, but on the other hand, another of our strong teams was bumped. Team 7 degrees were also eliminated in their round. This had Team PocketDoc (Joanne, Brooks, Will and Brandon) all moving up to the TOP 3!!!

Team PocketDoc awaits visitors at their presentation booth




Final Elimination: VCU WINS!!!

It came down to the University of Nebraska, East Tennessee State University and Virginia Commonwealth University all vying for top honors on Friday afternoon. VCU's finalists, Team PocketDoc, went first and gave a dynamic and well-executed performance.

Team PocketDoc gives a command performance



Team PocketDoc fields tough questions from the judges



PocketDoc gave a strong 20-minute presentation which demonstrated the finer aspects of their patient-doctor health-management system which featured both the Pocket PC and Tablet PC prominently. Generally, while the other teams were strong, it became increasingly evident that PocketDoc was indeed very strong in the competition.

The University of Nebraska Team



The East Tennessee State University Team

How we did: Part 2

Elimination Rounds

While some of our teams continued to speak with visitors at their "Science Fair" booth, others were quietly pulled away to conduct their elimination presentation.

Team PocketDoc awaits their elimination round



As teams took turns in the elimination rounds, our teams supported each other and discussed the competition around them from other schools, such as the University of Washington, University of Nebraska, Northeastern, and others.

One of last year's winners, John McKeon, offers advice to one of this year's winners, Will Calder



Manoj Thomas was also on hand to offer support and advice



The Results of Elimination Rounds

It turns out that Team Asclepius, with their TypeZero Diabetes monitoring application, had to enter the same elimination bracket as Team PocketDoc. This made for tense competition between two of our teams as both were fairly matched with respect to the completeness of their application. Both teams did incredibly well during their presentations and both received high marks from their judges. However, it was very clear that one of these teams would eliminate the other. Just at about lunch time we discovered that Team PocketDoc had eliminated Team Asclepius in their bracket.

Team 7 degrees was also eliminated during their preliminary round as the competition was intense. Team PocketDoc, however, had clearly made it into the top 3. PocketDoc and VCU had now earned another year's worth of respect just for placing in the top 3.

More to follow...

The Competition Details: How We Did

Hi, now that I have the quick announcement out, I can give a detailed account. First, I know I promised updates throughout the day, but Microsoft would not allow access to the Internet, so I was unable to connect.

May 5th Dawns

Our student teams awoke to catch a bus to Building 42 and 43 on the Microsoft Redmond Campus. These buildings are noteworthy for housing many of Microsoft's developers. Our students quickly set up their "Science Fair" projects which consisted of posterboard and two LCD monitors from which their application could be demonstrated. A typical setup looked like this:





Here is Team 7 Degrees at their presentation booth



Team Asclepius is looking sharp



Competition Begins

Teams were split off into arbitrary "regions" such that further competition for elimiation was possible. Team PocketDoc left first and did very well. Team Asclepius followed soon thereafter and gave a stellar performance. Despite a few problems related to the lack of Internet connectivity in the building, Team 7 Degrees went last. I assume our students did as well as I am indicating as I actually was not given the privilege of attending their elimination presentations - Microsoft felt my presence would be a distraction. However, Tina, Manoj and I were able to attend the science fair demonstrations.

Team 7 Degrees show off their stuff



More to follow...

VCU is #1 In the United States - AGAIN!

I have to get this one out first. Team Pocket Doc: Brooks Hollar, Joanne Cunningham, Will Calder and Brandon Saunders, have WON the Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design National Finals in Redmond Washington!!!

They will represent the United States and Virginia Commonwealth University in the International competition in New Delhi, India in late July 2006 or early August 2006.

Here are our winners:

We're all here

The teams have arrived and are gearing up for the competition. All are settling in and preparing to give their best.

Team Asclepius have ascended the Space Needle in order to raise their spirits...



Team Pocket Doc take a moment to enjoy a spring-time garden....



Team 7 Degrees enjoy a jovial moment from their hard work...



Later, a few teams have a meal together to celebrate their journey thus far...



Tomorrow is the big day!

I will provide updates throughout the day on the progress our teams are making. The big times to watch for news would be shortly after 1:00 P.M. PDT and 5:00 P.M. PDT. It is at or shortly after these times that we should know exactly how our teams have done in the competition.

It's a beautiful day...

Can you really get three days of pure springtime sunshine in the Pacific Northwest?

YES YOU CAN!

Arrival...

Over the last 24 hours, VCU students and faculty have been arriving to the Seattle area. It has been a BEAUTIFUL few spring days here with clear skies and cool breezes. Seattle is also known as the Emerald City, and Washington the Evergreen State, for good reason: there are beautiful pine trees everywhere!

As the students have found their way to their hotel and have settled in, we have all been welcomed by a picturesque Northwest backdrop:

The Space Needle

Mount Ranier

Ferries across Puget Sound

The City!

Tomorrow, Thursday May 4th, things should begin to crank up with the competition. While students do not actually compete until Friday, May 5th, some preliminary activities are planned for the students.

I will include reports of student progress and fun tomorrow. I should also have pictures of the students by then - both at work and play.

Our students continue to push onward...

NBC 12 Coverage

Team Asclepius invited NBC Channel 12 in Richmond to their practice today, May 1st, to do a report. Great hustle team. The report aired on the 5:30 news program.

Jeff

Welcome to the journey...

Hello, my name is Jeffry Babb and I am the faculty advisor to three groups of amazing students from Virginia Commonwealth University who are competing in the Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Invitational National Finals in Redmond, Washington on May 4-7, 2006. I will use this space to keep interested parties up-to-date on the VCU teams' progress as they compete.

Some background...
VCU's Department of Information Systems first became involved with the Imagine Cup in during the 2003-2004 academic year when Chris Stewart, Matt Nuckols and Matt Morton (all IS undergraduate students) competed in that year's competition. The team called themselves "Project Linden" and developed software for the Tablet PC which assisted learning management for autistic children. The team placed in the regional finals above teams like Princeton, among others. Dr. Redmond and Manoj Thomas provided mentorship and advising this year.

During the 2004-2005 academic year, I became involved with advising the student teams from VCU. The theme that year was: "Imagine a world where technology breaks the barriers between us..."

VCU fielded three teams in 2004-2005. Team VxNet consisted of Patricia Ligon, Nathan Morse, Jonathan Lumpkin and Aditya Mehta. Team VxNet placed second in their regional competition with an application designed to help the administration of vaccinations and vaccination data in the case of national disasters and emergencies. An second team, consisting of Hiren Patel, Alpesh Patel and Yueh Hai Wong, fielded an entry focusing on RFID retail applications.

National Victors!
Of course the highlight of the 2004-2005 Imagine Cup experience at VCU was team ECECIS/LiNK. John Sells (Computer Science), John McKeon (Information Systems) and James Barret (Information Systems) won the National Finals at Redmond in May 2005. Team went on to represent the United States at the International Finals in Yokohama, Japan in July 2005. Team LiNK presented a Tablet PC application which assisted in early childhood education and hand-writing skills. The team presented their application exceedingly well and placed 8th Internationally - this accomplishment was a source of great pride for the team and for VCU.

Imagine Cup 2005-2006: Off to take the title again!
With a fresh national win under our belt, I started off the 2005-2006 school year with a drive towards including students from other disciplines: escpecially computer science. By the end of the Fall Semester 2005, three teams had emerged with an eye towards claiming the top prize. The teams from VCU became a near 50/50 mix of Computer Science and Information Systems students. The theme for the 2005-2006 competition is: "Imagine a world where technology allows us to live heathier lives..."

A team of computer science graduate students came as a welcome surprise. Team PocketDoc consists of Joanne Cunningham, Brooks Hollar, Will Calder and Brandon Saunders. This team has developed a Pocket PC application which assists doctors and patients in the administration of their medications, procedures and treatments in the doctor's absence.

A second team will go to Seattle as Patricia Ligon (a returning competitor), Hiren Patel (a returning competitor), Marius McCray and Omar Belkacemi. This team is fielding an application focusing on cross-cultural relationship management such that those entering new cultures can relieve the stress of blending in with that culture. Project 7 Degrees uses a Smart Phone as an agent to smooth over the anxiety of entering new cultures.

Our hybrid Computer Science and Information Systems team this year is Team Asclepius. Jamie Pinkham (Information Systems), Ben Rinaca (Information Systems), Worth Becker (Information Systems) and Aaron Dandy (Computer Science) have created a Pocket PC application which eases the burden of diabetes management for those afflicted with the disease. The application provides an interface between the doctor and patient such that the disease can be monitored and managed conviently.

Competition structure
In order to compete in Redmond, Washington on May 4-7, 2006, the VCU teams had to pass several elimination rounds. The first elimination round occured in February 2006 whereby the applicant list was whittled down to 50 teams from universities across the United States. Teams were restricted to no more than 4 students per team. All three VCU teams passed this round. A further elimination round occured in April 2006 and the list of teams was shortened to 15 teams from schools across the United States. That's right, VCU dominates 20% of the final competition!

More to come...
I am posting this on the eve of departing to Redmond to support the teams as advisor and mentor. I will also have the able support of Tina Babb (my wife) and Manoj Thomas (IS Faculty) this time out. We are all EXTREMELY EXCITED about the opportunity to show Microsoft, other students across the United States and across the world the quality of the VCU entrants.

I'll continue to post on this blog to document the rest of the competition as it unfolds for the student competitors from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Jeff