What do Golden West College, Yale University, Taft University, UCLA, and University of Houston have in Common?
They are the five teams heading for Washington D.C. to compete in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup U.S. Finals.
The Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition sponsored by Microsoft. Open to students around the world, the challenge is focused on finding solutions to real world issues. Competition categories are Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Design, Digital Media, and IT Challenge.
Two Golden West College students, known as team Dark Wing Ducks, were selected as one of the five teams to win the Spring U.S. Semi-Finals Round of the Imagine Cup competition. Zachary McIntosh and Paul Purtell competed in the Game Design category against some serious competition from prestigious universities, including UCI and USC.
Microsoft will be sending these five teams to Washington, D.C. where they will join another 5 teams from the Fall U.S. Semi-Finals to compete for the top U.S. Imagine Cup award April 22 – 26. Winners go on to compete in the Worldwide Finals held July 3 – 8 in Warsaw, Poland.
Team Dark Wing Ducks’ game is about a boat that picks up plastic trash from the ocean. When the trash is picked up, the user get points and the game is won by picking up all the trash in the time limit. The game is designed to make the user aware of ocean pollution caused by plastic waste. The game will also provide pollution data and tips to reduce trash that ends up in the ocean.
Pictured above (L-R): Paul Purtell and Zach McIntire in Dr. Shin Liu’s Computer Science Visual C# class at GWC. Dr. Shin Liu is the team’s mentor and will be traveling to Washington D.C. with them. Dr. Liu said, “ We worked hard on this project and we are ready to show Washington we have the best students.”
If you would like information about Game Programming courses at Golden West College, visit the Computer Science department website.
