Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Competition Seeks Diversity: After nine years, Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition boasts a strong international presence, with students from more than 70 countries competing this year. During the last two cup competitions, it fell to Tara Walker, an Academic Development evangelist at Microsoft, to ensure that HBCU and other minority-serving students had a place at the table.
Begun in 2003, Imagine Cup challenges undergraduates to use technology — with the aid of Microsoft platforms — to solve worldwide challenges. This year, students were tasked with creating programs that addressed the United Nations' eight millennium development goals, which include ending hunger and poverty, access to universal education and environmental sustainability.
