YCMD: You Can Make a Difference Technology Scholarship Program
The You Can make a Difference scholarship program challenges secondary school students around the world to design technology-based projects to benefit charitable organizations. - Microsoft’s Annual Scholarship Program Rewards Students for Charitable Contributions
Redmond, WA (PRWEB) April 6, 2005 -- Microsoft Corp. today launched its
second annual You Can Make a Difference scholarship program, which challenges
secondary school students around the world to design technology-based projects
to benefit charitable organizations. Previously available only to students from
the United States and Canada, the program has been expanded this year to include
high-school and secondary-school students around the world.
The You Can
Make a Difference scholarship will award a total of $50,000 (U.S.) in grants to
10 students — five male and five female — who create the best proposal for a
software project designed to benefit a charitable organization. Winners will
receive a personal scholarship of $2,500, as well as a budget of up to $1,500 to
implement the proposed project. A $1,000 technology grant also will be awarded
to each winning student’s school. In addition, the 10 finalists will be paired
with a mentor from Microsoft to help them implement their project. Each student
who submits a proposal will receive a free copy of Microsoft’s award-winning
Visual Studio® .NET 2003 Academic development tool.
“You Can Make a
Difference is a fantastic program that encourages students to use their
technological skills to make a positive impact on society. We’re very grateful
to be a part of this wonderful opportunity,” said Karen Blevins, a teacher at
Grayson County Career & Technical Education Center, whose student Justin
Bevins won one of the 10 scholarships last year with his idea to create a
database for an annual auction benefiting the local chapter of the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation. “Being in a small rural county, we feel fortunate to be the
recipients of Microsoft’s generous support, and it was really a treat for us to
work with an industry leader like Microsoft.”
Entry proposals in English
can be submitted starting today via theSpoke.net, Microsoft’s online community
for technology students, at http://www.thespoke.net/ycmd. The deadline for entries is
April 30. Students can submit their materials in Chinese (Simplified and
Traditional), French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian or Spanish by visiting one of the
localized versions of theSpoke. Judging will occur May 1–15, and winners will be
announced in mid- to late May. Winners will have three months from the date of
the announcement to develop and deploy their project for the selected charity,
with guidance from volunteer Microsoft developers. Detailed application
information, program details, and rules and conditions are available at http://www.thespoke.net/ycmd, including a sample proposal and
recommended development tools. Questions about the program should be sent to
e-mail protected from spam bots.
Microsoft also sponsors the Imagine Cup,
an annual student technology competition that, like You Can Make a Difference,
provides an outlet for both high-school and college students from around the
world to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom.
Imagine Cup contestants are invited to compete in nine invitational categories,
including software design, Web development, information technology, visual
gaming, and short film creation. This year’s Imagine Cup worldwide finals will
take place in Yokohama, Japan, July 27–Aug. 1. More information about the
Imagine Cup can be found at http://www.imaginecup.com.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft
(Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that
help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft and
Visual Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual
companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their
respective owners.
For more information, press only:
Melissa Hovis,
Waggener Edstrom, (503) 443-7000, e-mail protected from spam bots
Rapid
Response Team, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 443-7070, e-mail protected from spam
bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb225505.htm