Microsoft Academia Accelerator showcases the popularity of mobile- first, cloud-first technology solutions

Microsoft Academia Accelerator 2017 in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, May 11 2017 – Microsoft India today hosted its first ever code.fun.do SHOWCASE, a Microsoft Academia Accelerator program through which 44 top teams across 15 colleges were invited to showcase their projects. Over 100 students at the Microsoft campus at Hyderabad displayed solutions based on popular technologies like Android, Chatbots and AI solutions, with Azure combinations. Lifestyle and productivity emerged as favored themes, followed by education and entertainment. Academia Accelerator is one of Microsoft’s most comprehensive campus engagement programs aimed at building a deep, long-term association between industry and academia in India and reiterates the company’s mission to enable people to realize their full potential.

code.fun.co SHOWCASE  Winners 2017

 First Place:

Team: Negative Time 

Project Name: Content Rectifier

Content moderation solution built as a browser extension to keep children away from adult, racist and negative web content. Parents can monitor and control web activities through Facebook bot as well

First Place:

Team: Voicers

Project Name: Song Train

A web app to create Karaoke tracks from songs and a platform where users can assess their singing abilities

Second Place:

Team: Infinite Loop

Project Name: Together Play 

Android app which plays synchronized music in multiple devices. Can also be used for short range audio communication over Wifi direct 

The code.fun.do series culminated today, receiving great response from 2,000+ participating students across 15 colleges, giving birth to a total of 350 new projects as Academia Accelerator program celebrated its fifth year of collaboration with students and faculty in India. About 40% of these students are from non-Computer Science backgrounds.

From just ideas at the campus level, the code.fun.do SHOWCASE builds on the best of those through mentor support, publishing support and pitch support provided by Microsoft and eventually provides this opportunity for the best among India’s student developers to bring their ideas to life.

“Academia Accelerator aims to expose students, during their formative years to critically important technology trends and practices by adding a layer of cutting-edge industry know-how on top of the existing Computer Science curriculum, thereby enriching their careers decisions and fueling innovation”. said Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Ltd. “The success of this program is testament to the great engineering talent we have in India. We have seen significant uptake for the Academia Accelerator program in the last five years as students recognize the importance of understanding technology trends and undergoing practical training sessions during their formative years,” he added.  

As with every year, the program stressed the concepts of teamwork and collaboration as well as multi-disciplinary focus that took students beyond pure technology or code into other equally important determinants of success, such as user experience, design, customer value propositions.

Microsoft is committed to fostering innovation and creating a real impact on communities. In line with this, the key focus is on empowering students to think innovatively to craft solutions for real time challenges. Initiatives such as the Microsoft Academia Accelerator and Microsoft Imagine Cup represent a tremendous learning opportunity for students. In addition to skills and training that launch incredible careers, students receive unparalleled hands-on experience, guidance and mentorship from industry luminaries, opening doors to a future as an entrepreneur, innovator or technologist. Through these programs, students are empowered to dream big, build creatively, learn through competition and boldly bring their ideas to life as they gain lifelong career skills throughout their journey.

About Academia Accelerator

This exclusive program enables Microsoft’s engagement with campuses through enrichment of CS course curriculum and driving student innovation.

Supporting CS faculty in curriculum development and delivery- is done through participation in tech boot camps, guest lectures, adjunct faculty, curriculum reviews & development, leadership talks, technology workshops, joint research papers and mentoring student projects.

Fostering student innovation and entrepreneurship on campus through a series of code.fun.do hackathons which give students at the partnering campuses an opportunity to work collaboratively in team environments to build modern, real-world applications that leverage the latest Microsoft platforms including Mobile and Cloud, and a series of workshops that span a wide spectrum of topics relevant to the modern-day high technology industry.

About Microsoft India

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 8,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research and development and customer services and support, across nine Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune.

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