Microsoft Innovation Center Brussels

Arnaud JUND, coach of the Belgian team for Imagine Cup

Imagine Cup, the world championship of digital innovation is a competition organized by Microsoft since 2003. It brings together hundreds of teams of students who wish to emphasize the computing technologies to meet the greatest challenges of our societies.

Our team: Lionel Afangbedjee Alessandro Missoul, Antoine and Kevin Wislet Putzeys, four students from the « haute école de la province de Liège”.

The Hateya project, “small step in the Sand”, was born of a terrible situation. Too many firefighters are losing their lives! In a television report on the fire men, we learned that the major problem of a firefighter is the loss of orientation. Indeed, it is very difficult to find your way, or borrow another when smoke or flames are present, unless you have a breadcrumb.

Our team decided to create a tool, a virtual breadcrumb. The onboard tracking device records the path of each firefighter and analyzes the environment in which he operates. The information’s are transmitting to an external control system. The tracking device allows not only to know the path of a firefighter, but also to provide a return path that he can see through augmented reality glasses.

Our project has been awarded at the national final in Belgium, and will have the chance to defend the Belgian colors at the world final in St Petersburg (Russia) on 8 July to 11 July 2013.

Bachelor in IT, I hold 15 years of experience as a consultant on Microsoft technologies, mainly on content management tools, collaborative platforms and embedded systems. For several years I coach students in Imagine Cup. In 2012, this adventure had allowed us to defend a project at the World Final in Australia.

Imagine Cup is for us and our students a springboard to entrepreneurship. Young people have many qualities: motivation, ambition, courage, creativity… But to start as an entrepreneur is a risky challenge even when you have a good idea. Compared to a “usual” internship, the context of Imagine Cup will enable our students to have a real entrepreneurial experience. Develop a complete system and test it in real conditions. Being confronted with production problems. Team working. Contact with IT professionals and the world for firefighters to test their solution. Develop a marketing communication to promote their solution, adopt a commercial attitude to defend their project. All kind of activities that are not taught at school in a practical way. Now they have a feeling for entrepreneurship. Remains for me to lead them beyond the Imagine Cup competition for their project to be realized as a product.

First architect .Net and Team leader at his EZOS S.A., I continue my career as Director of Technical Operations at Vision Ezos from 2008 to 2010.

In 2009, I co-founded the Mytic user group. Result of several initiatives between Microsoft and a few partners, it’s the first French-speaking users group of Microsoft technologies in Belgium. Since, we give regular sessions on Microsoft tools and technologies in partnership with the MIC.

In 2010, I first created “ZeKids” whose primary objective is to reduce the digital divide between children, parents and teachers. I then co-founded a technology cooperative NeomyTIC, a Microsoft expertise center. Neomytic is a network of independent consultants specializing in collaborative platforms, communication and mobility.