The team members
By
The Makererean reporter
Uganda will be represented in the Microsoft Imagine Cup
competitions worldwide finals by a team of three students from Makerere
University who developed an application that can diagnose malaria without
pricking any body part.
Team Code 8 is made up of Businge Joshua, Gitta Brian (both
first year Computer Science students), Simon Lubambo, a fourth year Electrical
Engineering student and their mentor Josiah Kavuma a third year Information
Technology student.
Their application named Matibabu uses a light sensor
connected to a tablet that is passed over a finger to diagnose malaria. The
trio will represent Uganda in the 2013 Microsoft Imagine Cup finals to be held
in St. Petersburg, Russia in July.
“To have won this year’s Uganda country finals – and to have
an opportunity to present our country at the Worldwide Imagine Cup along with
some of the brightest young minds, is an honour,” said the team. “We are
thrilled to have the opportunity to compete with students from around the globe
who like us, are passionate about making a difference in the world.”
Team Code 8 won an all expenses paid trip to the finals and
two laptops while the second team – Team KodeDream won two laptops courtesy of
Microsoft.
Speaking to The Makererean during the competition that
attracted over 150 students, Simon Onyango, the Microsoft Business Development
Manager in Uganda, challenged the youth to take time to focus on developing
technology applications that are wealth creating and not just “cool”. “ While
many local developers have focused their work on developing consumer
applications, it is important that they also look into opportunities that exist
in B2C (Business to Consumer) Apps, Independent Software Vendors (ISV), Line of
Business Apps and In House Line of Business Apps as these remain unexplored and
present real business opportunities,” he added.
Onyango also encouraged the youth to continue developing apps
on the Windows 8 platform saying it is only a game changer but also an
operating system that is apps driven. “Windows 8, unlike past operating systems
offers a huge global opportunity for developers. They can easily build, submit
and sell through the windows store with favorable economic terms. There is no
learning curve as local developers can use their existing skills, code,
certifications, languages and framework preferences to write for windows.”
Drake Patrick Mirembe, the manager of Microsoft Innovation
Centre-Uganda (MIC) told The Makererean that the MIC was committed to mentoring
the teams that had participated in the competition to enable them transform
their concepts into innovations that uplift our communities.
This is the first time the finals are jointly held in Uganda
by Microsoft, Makerere University and the MIC-Uganda.
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