I was fortunate enough to be a judge for the Softare Design competition (thanks to Rogerio and the IC team). It was inspiring to see the passion, dedication and creativity of these students. Austraila's SOAK project was indeed a great solution, rife with potential and the capability to make a real difference in the world (water preservation by means of intelligent automated water management and analysis on premise or in the cloud for small to large farming enterprises - agriculture uses and, unfortunately, wastes more water than any other human enterprise). I was one of the judges whom they presented to in the second round and I was very impressed (though I did see a few flaws in some aspects of their design, for the most part they blew me away). Incredible job, Team Australia.

One of the great things about the Imagine Cup is that there really aren't any losers. Many of the teams I got the pleasure to see in a judgement context will no doubt create successful business ventures, with local or global sustainable environmental impact, based on their innovative and creative ideas.

Imagine Cup is truly an inspirational event and I left Paris feeling hopeful about the future.

Keep on thinking and making a difference. You're the future.
C