Team PH21 from Chulalongkorn University scores top prize with inventive title “Timelie”
Bangkok, 1 August 2016 – Team PH21 of Chulalongkorn University has brought pride to Thailand after emerging as the winner of the Games category in the World Finals round of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2016 – one of the world’s biggest student technology competitions – with their inventive submission, “Timelie.”
PH21’s success maintains Thailand’s excellent track record in the Imagine Cup and marks the fourth win on the global stage out of 14 annual competitions following previous victories in 2007, 2010, and 2012.
The World Finals round of the Imagine Cup 2016 was held in Seattle, USA on July 26-29 with 35 teams from 33 countries around the world vying for top honors as they presented their works to Microsoft’s panel of expert judges – including special guest judges John Boyega, lead actor from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Dr. Jennifer Tang, a former Imagine Cup world champion from 2014, and Kasey Champion, an accomplished software engineer and Computer Science Curriculum Developer at Microsoft. Teams competed in three categories – Games, Innovation, and World Citizenship – as they challenged for more than $200,000 in cash and prizes, trophies, and a 1:1 mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Furthermore, competing teams were able to educate themselves on new techniques and exchange expertise in software and business development.
Team PH21 comprises five members from Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering: Parimeth Wongsatayanon, Kamin Kolyutsakul, Archan Soonthornarom, Pongsatorn Santiwatanakul, and Jessada Trirongkit. As winners in the Games category, the five members of PH21 received a $50,000 cash prize (approximately 1.7 million baht) for their submission, “Timelie,” which previously secured victory in April’s Imagine Cup Thailand 2016 competition.
“Timelie” is an innovative puzzle game that utilizes time manipulation mechanics. The player can control two characters – Merza and Alpha – to overcome a wide range of obstacles inside a secret laboratory full of powerful enemies. The player is capable of planning their actions based on future outcomes of their own actions and travel back in time to manipulate the chain of events to their liking while also experiencing an exciting, unpredictable story.
“Microsoft would like to congratulate Team PH21 for their success on the global stage, which is further proof of Thailand’s outstanding young talent pool in creating world-class technological innovations,” said Siriporn Pajharawat, Director of Developer Experience & Platform Evangelism (DX) Group, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited. “Throughout our two decades in Thailand, Microsoft has ceaselessly supported Thai youths to develop their capacity to create powerful software applications and technologies that serve as the basis of future business ventures and contribute to the development of Thailand’s software industry and overall economy.”
Steven Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President, Developer Experience & Evangelism and Chief Evangelist, Microsoft, said, “Microsoft believes in the power of connecting young people with technology to dream big, build creatively and boldly bring their ideas to life. Through our Microsoft Imagine program, students get access to unique experiences and world class development and cloud tools, at no cost, so they can start building their future now.”
The Imagine Cup competition seeks to unleash the potential of youths around the world through expressions of creativity that take the forms of software development and design projects, all crafted with real impact on society in mind. Throughout its 14-year history, the competition has welcomed submissions from 1.65 million students from 190 countries around the world.
For more information on PH21 and the latest updates on Timelie’s development, visit https://www.facebook.com/TimelieGame/.
The full results from the Imagine Cup 2016 World Finals can be found below:
World Champion: Team ENTy from Romania
Games category
First Place: Team PH21 from Thailand
Second Place: Team None Developers from Indonesia
Third Place: Team Tower Up from Brazil
Innovation category
First Place: Team ENTy from Romania
Second Place: Team Bit Masters from Sri Lanka
Third Place: Team HealthX from the United States
World Citizenship category
First Place: Team AMANDA from Greece
Second Place: Team Night’s Watch from Tunisia
Third Place: Team InSimu from Hungary