15 May 2017

On May 11, the HTP business incubator hosted the national final of the 2017 Imagine Cup, a global competition for computer science students conducted by Microsoft. Every year tens of thousands of students from across the globe compete for cash, travel and prizes and for the honor of taking home the Imagine Cup. Ten teams of students aged 16 and older became finalists in the regional round of the competition in Belarus.

Country Manager of Belarus ‎at Microsoft Anton Myakishev noted in his welcome speech that Belarus Hi-Tech Park is now experiencing a new wave of its development, just like the IT industry supported at the highest level. "Microsoft cannot stay away from these processes," he noted. The company works in Belarus with both government authorities and the education system. "We encourage young active people who are making their first steps in business. The competition is a case in point. It is a real-life challenge for hundreds of young teams, and even if they don't win, they will get valuable experience and a lot of useful tips and recommendations," added Anton Myakishev.

Each team had three minutes to pitch their projects to the judges and the audience, and two minutes to answer their questions. The Scrawless team was named the winner and will go to Kiev to participate in the 2017 Imagine Cup semifinal. Dmitry Kuzmich and Eugenia Kravechenko, students of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Readioelectronics and the Belarusian National Technical University, developed a web portal to help children with fine motor skills difficulties perform their homework in different subjects. The projects include a set of on-screen keyboards.

The winner of the semifinal in Kiev will compete in the Imagine Cup final in Seattle, Washington (USA).