UH Hilo team wins Microsoft Imagine Cup challenge

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Kakugawa-leong, (808) 932-7669
Dir, Media Rel, University Relations
Posted: Dec 19, 2014

A team from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has won the first challenge in the 2015 Microsoft Imagine Cup by submitting the top entry in the Pitch Video Challenge in the Games Category. The event requires students to produce a three-minute video presentation, which Team Hoku made in conjunction with their senior software engineering project.

Team members Brian Hall, Theodore DeRego, Lucas DeRego and Casey Pearring created reForge, a casual 2D online sci-fi sandbox game where players command highly customizable ships in tactical battles. Players collect resources, trade in a player-driven economy, and team up to competitively control various aspects of the game universe. UH Hilo students Kristin Pederson and Kelli Yamane worked on documentation aspects of the game through their involvement in the software engineering course, although they are not members of the official Imagine Cup Team.

By winning the challenge, Team Hoku receives a $3,000 cash prize and moves on to the Blueprint and User Experience challenges in the 2015 Imagine Cup competition. The Imagine Cup is recognized as the premier student technology competition that honors innovations that address the world’s toughest problems.