REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 27, 2001 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the .NET Best Student Awards 2001, an XML Web services contest challenging North American college and university students to develop exciting new XML Web services applications for the .NET Platform. The contest will recognize student developers who innovate with industry-standard protocols such as XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI to deliver the best applications and solutions with Microsoft® .NET. The contest, targeted to students in the United States and Canada, excluding Quebec, will award over $60,000 in cash, scholarship contributions and prizes to students whose Web services are selected.
“Were excited to offer this opportunity for students to contribute their ideas to build new applications and services for the .NET Platform,”
said Janie Schwark, academic program manager at Microsoft.
“This contest will give students a challenging opportunity to work with their choice of tools to show off their knowledge of the most current technologies.”
Cash, Scholarships and Prizes
The .NET Best Student Awards is sponsored by the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDN® AA) and will award cash and prizes for first through third place, as well as a special Peoples Choice award:
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First place. Microsoft will award $15,000 to the first place team or individual, and $15,000 to their schools scholarship fund. Each team member and one faculty advisor will also receive a trip to TechEd 2002. This team or individual will also be automatically entered in the worldwide .NET Best Awards 2001 contest and have the opportunity to win additional prizes for their school.
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Second place. Microsoft will award $10,000 to the second place team or individual, and $10,000 to their schools scholarship fund. Each team member and one faculty advisor will also receive a trip to TechEd 2002.
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Third place: Microsoft will award $5,000 to the third place team or individual, and $5,000 to their schools scholarship fund. Each team member and one faculty advisor will also receive a trip to TechEd 2002.
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Peoples Choice award. Microsoft also will offer a prize for the team or individual voted by all the contestants to have the overall best solution. The Peoples Choice team members or individual will each receive a Microsoft Xbox™
game console and games.
Contest Registration
Students in the United States and Canada, excluding Quebec, may enter the contest individually or as teams (with up to four members) to develop new ideas for XML Web services centered on the .NET Platform. To register, students must simply complete a contest application form describing their Web services idea. Additional information including the contest entry form can be found at http://www.msdnaa.net/wscontest/ .* The contest entry deadline is Dec. 31, 2001. Students only need an idea to register, not a developed Web service. Semifinalists will be selected based on the strength of their proposal. Students are encouraged to submit a complete description of their proposed Web service, including the real-world problem to be solved, the end users to be targeted, and the technologies to be used. Semifinalists will receive server space, tools and support to enable them to build their Web service. Final entries will be due by March 15, 2002.
About the MSDN Academic Alliance
The MSDN Academic Alliance membership program provides a complete, inexpensive resource to keep academic labs, faculty and students on the leading edge of technology. For an annual fee of $799, departments teaching courses in computer science, engineering and information systems receive access to the complete suite of Microsoft developer tools, servers and operating systems. Software in this program may be used for instructional and research purposes and may be loaded on any number of qualifying lab, faculty and student-owned computers. In addition, the MSDN AA provides a community Web site that offers a curriculum database, downloadable projects, bulletin board forums, chat sessions, webcasts, news about technology trends and issues, and many other features. More information on the MSDN Academic Alliance can be found at: http://www.msdnaa.net/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
* No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Contest registration ends Dec. 31, 2001. Students must be at least 18 years old to enter and must be enrolled in academic classes at a two-year or four-year academic institution in the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). Employees of Microsoft, or their affiliates, Microsoft Student Consultants, Contest Judges, and their respective company divisions are ineligible to participate. Microsoft Student Evangelists, however, are permitted to compete. For full rules, see http://www.msdnaa.net/wscontest/ .
Microsoft, MSDN and Xbox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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