TEAM LAUTECH: #TeamProblemSolvers, #TeamImageMakers, #TeamImageRedeemers 1.
At the time when people fail to look beyond the not-too-good happenings in LAUTECH and stop the intentional exclusion of evidences to a hasty but bias conclusion that LAUTECH Students are Cyber-criminals, Fraudsters, Ritualists and Armed Robbers, without considering all of variables; drawing conclusion based on small mass, rather than looking at statistics that are much more in line with the so-so situation which make them have negative notion about the school and her products, and have blindfolded their eyes from seeing the better side of the school.
The products of this so called haven of Cyber-criminals, Fraudsters, Ritualists and Armed Robbers are not only making themselves proud but also the country and Africa- the second largest continent, at the world stage. For two consecutive years, LAUTECH students have represented Nigeria and Africa at the global finals of the Microsoft's IMAGINE CUP which is the world's premier student technology program and competition where students use their imagination and passion to create a technology solution that can solve the world's toughest problems.
Imagine Cup is a student software competition which centers on the use of imagination, creativity and technology to help solve some of the world's toughest problems. As part of Microsoft's Youth-Spark initiative, it is a way for young entrepreneurs, innovators and developers to have the opportunity to develop an idea, create a product, and set a clear business plan that will take their product to market.
Imagine Cup is also directly aligned with the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative that was launched in 2013 as it drives access to technology, innovation and world-class skills. With the belief that technology can accelerate growth for Africa and Africa can also accelerate technology for the world. Imagine Cup centers around three Competitions: World Citizenship, Games and Innovation. For the record, more than 1.65 million students across the globe had participated during the past decade, creating applications and games that address the world's toughest social problems.
In a keenly contested battle of wits and creative ingenuity among 12 teams that comprised students from Nigerian universities for the honour of who was to represent the country at the 2013 Worldwide Imagine Cup competition in St Petersburg, Russia. At the end of the presentations by the 12 teams under the watchful of experience industry experts, members of the LIFE SAVER Team who are students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and Obafemi Awolowo University emerged winners.
Afolabi Olamide, Oluwole Michael, Akinlaja Solomon and Adewale Adeyinka, all members of Team Life Saver, competed in the category of World Citizenship. Their solution titled 'CARDIO-LIFE' was designed to tackle heart attack by monitoring heart reading on the fly via the Microsoft Windows Phone. The solution also provides a rehabilitation programme for stroke patients using the Kinect sensor.
Later that year, Team Life Saver represented Nigeria at the global finals which attracted no fewer than 309 students from 71 countries. Out of the 87 finalists' teams that competed, Team Life Saver with nine (9) other teams from the African countries (South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Botswana, Tunisia, among others), showcased their best technologies in the continent to the world.
Team High-Rise from LAUTECH was the winning team of the 2014 Microsoft Nigeria Imagine Cup. In total, 9 teams from Nigeria competed during a challenging day of presentations of innovative solutions, which brought together students from universities across the country. Team High-Rise comprising Adefioye Temidayo, Faleye Benjamin, Oyebisi Jemil and Ibraheem Bello emerged the winner in the category of World Citizenship, having developed a solution called 'CATARA' which serves the purpose of drastically reducing the rate at which cataract causes total blindness; an innovation that has the potential to save lives all over the world, created in the heart of Africa. In 2nd place, was Team Eagle from The Federal University of Akure (FUTA), with the solution 'Enchanter', which created virtual business cards that can be shared using near field communication (NFC). Team ABU from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, came 3rd with the solution 'Mayday', which acts as an emergency alert and response application.
Having won the national finals after competing with eight other teams from Nigerian Universities, Team High-Rise joined other student innovators from across the globe who took their innovative and ground-breaking ideas from concept to marketplace with Microsoft resources, at the Imagine Cup World Semi-finals which took place in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A in July 2014. Team High-Rise (Nigeria) with Team AfriGal-Tech (Uganda) represented Africa in World Citizenship while Team Illogic (Egypt) represented Africa in Game category. These brightest young minds showed the world how the power of technology can take on Africa's and the world's toughest problems.
Moreover, a Team supervised by the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Dr Oladiran Tayo Arulogun, won the 2014 Google Online Marketing Challenge¸ organized by GOOGLE. The Google Online Marketing Challenge which serves as a unique opportunity for students to experience and create online marketing campaigns is an annual global competition where students from different universities all over the world exhibit their online marketing skills using Google AdWords and Google+. With a $250 AdWords advertising budget provided by Google, students develop and run an online advertising campaign for a business or non-profit organization over a three week period. The teams that develop and communicate the most successful campaigns win awesome prizes, including trips to Google offices.
The LAUTECH Team won in the Adwords Business category for The Middle East & Africa region. The team which comprise Adedoyin Jelili Opeyemi, Abiodun Ibraheem and Adeosun Oluwole Titus who are students of Mechanical Engineering Department, Adesina Jamiu Olawale and Akadiri Olawale Olugboyega of the Urban and Regional Planning Department and Salami Ismail Tunde of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, worked with Automedics Limited, an automobile maintenance workshop offering free advisory car care tips, as reported. According to news report, the team visited the Google Office located in Dublin, Ireland, for workshop during the festive period.
To Ladokites, these are young men like you, building fascinating, surprising and even life changing and life saving projects. They, with their incredible works and innovative solutions are solving not just problems, but world's toughest problems. These are creative minds that are passionate about making a difference in the world. They are your fellow students, making impacts, while they make name for themselves and with their innovations rebrand, promote and sell the image of LAUTECH to the world. With You and I being involved in positively impacting projects, people will have a paradigm shift in their notion about Us being Cyber-criminals, Fraudsters, Ritualists and Armed Robbers. With that, we'll walk tall again, with heads high.
Oluwatomilola Boyinde, TOMINIGERIA, PRO, Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ) & All-Nigeria United Nations Students' and Youth Association (ANUNSA), LAUTECH. [email protected], @TomiNigeria, 08032434218, 2AF2EB9D.