Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5 April 2018 – Microsoft today crowned Team PINE from Malaysia as the winner of the Imagine Cup 2018 Asia Pacific Regional Finals, after a nail-biting finale against 14 other teams from across the region. Six other teams were also selected to continue their journey at the Imagine Cup 2018 World Finals which will be held in Seattle in July.
Microsoft Imagine Cup 2018 APAC Winner : Team PINE!
Team PINE developed a handheld sensing device that can help pineapple farmers efficiently and effectively evaluate optimal levels of ripeness prior to harvest, and in a non-intrusive manner.
According to Tan Yit Peng, a member of Team Pine, “Pineapples are the second most exported tropical fruit in Malaysia. Currently, a conventional method is used to determine the quality of a pineapple (Brix value) and this is done intrusively using a refractometer which leads to a lot of wastage. Our device will allow farmers to check the internal quality of the pineapples in order to ensure that the quality is optimum before harvest. It is a quick and easy solution that these farmers can use.”
When asked about the team’s feelings about being crowned the champions, she had this to say,” We are overjoyed about winning the regional finals and we look forward to waving the Malaysian flag proudly during the finals in Seattle!”
Congratulating the team, K Raman, Managing Director, Microsoft Malaysia said, “We are delighted that Malaysia has bagged the top spot in the regional finals of this prestigious Imagine Cup. It gives us immense pride and joy to see them take our flag to the global finals. With Imagine Cup, we continue to build on our goal to empower students and prepare the future workforce. To the fifteen teams from across Asia Pacific that gathered for the competition, I hope you feel proud of what you have accomplished thus far. Simply being here is deserving of congratulations.”
The first runner-up and second runner-up places were awarded to Team BeeConnex from Thailand, and Team 7x from Singapore, respectively.
[adrotate group=”2″]Team BeeConnex from Thailand came up with the Smart Hive; an IoT device that enables beekeepers to track and monitor the health of a beehive. The device is also able to alert beekeepers when potential issues are detected within the hive.
Singapore’s Team 7x created ProCubeX, an interactive smart-learning cube designed as an early intervention tool for children with dyslexia. The cube will intelligently generate an individualized education plan for dyslexic children, triggering multisensory stimulation as well as the parts of the brain responsible for language learning.
In all, seven teams from the Imagine Cup APAC Regional Finals were selected to continue their innovation journey to the next level at the Imagine Cup World Finals. The seven teams are:
| Team Name | Market | Prize |
| Team PINE | Malaysia | Champion |
| Team BeeConnex | Thailand | 1st Runner-Up |
| Team 7x | Singapore | 2nd Runner-Up |
| Team Beehive Drone | Indonesia | *Worldwide Finalist |
| Team Classum | Korea | *Worldwide Finalist |
| Team En#22.45km | Korea | *Worldwide Finalist |
| Team SochWare | Nepal | *Worldwide Finalist |
* In no particular order of merit
The student teams will take their innovation journey to the next level at the Imagine Cup 2018 World Finals. Held in Seattle this July, the World Finals will gather more than 50 student teams from all over the world, all vying for the top prize of up to US$100,000, mentorship opportunities with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, as well as Azure grants and credits to bring their winning solution to the market.
The 15 finalist teams which participated in the regional finals came from nine countries, including Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. These teams were selected from local finals that were held in each country earlier this year.
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