2015 July 31
In an awards ceremony this afternoon at the Mind Museum, a group of Information Technology seniors was adjudged as the grand champion of the "Program the Future: The Accenture Technology Campus Challenge 2015" under the Games App category. Team Technosaur's Modern Sweeper emerged among the total of eighty (80) innovative ideas submitted for the two (2) categories. The Games App Challenge is a category "challenging students to develop fun, exciting games that can address public health and safety or environmental issues."
Team Technosaur soared through the Idea Generation stage -- the first round of elimination through a video presentation -- and advanced as among the Top 10 semi-finalists with two other PLM groups, Team Paradiso (Paradiso) and the CRRM Games (Recycle City).
After a round of defense presentation to give flesh to their ideas before a team of Accenture technology leads, Team Technosaur advanced to the finals as the lone group from Metro Manila among the Top 5. The finalists defended their game applications before a panel of international technology experts, including Dr. John R. Williams, multi-technology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
Team adviser Leisyl Ocampo, Computer Science department chair, said that Team Paradiso shared the limelight for developing the "most promising game application." It was conferred the People's Choice award and won P50,000 worth of gadgets (four Sony Xperia C3). The grand champion received P200,000 worth of gadgets (four Apple 13.3-inch MacBook Air), with medals and a futuristic astronaut trophy -- Accenture's icon for the "Program the Future" challenge.
CET dean Clydelle Rondaris and IT department chair Charito Molina joined the victorious teams on stage in receiving the awards. Team Technosaur is composed of Paulo Santiago, Marco Francisco, Princess Joy Sicat and Fenella Mae Bagalayos. Team Paradiso's members were Daniel Clado, Prince Al Ramirez, Nica Villanueva and Kresia Brilliante, while the CRRM Games is composed of Carlo Salvahan, Meryl Estares, Michael de Jesus and Cristopher Salibio.
Running on its second year, the Challenge is the bedrock for revolutionary ideas that can change the way the world works and lives. In its maiden challenge, Accenture cited the four (4) teams fielded in by PLM.
PLM maintains a meaningful industry-academe institutional linkage with the finest global industry names. Through a formal partnership in 2011, PLM is among the only four (4) top schools in the country, including the University of the Philippines-Diliman, that qualified for Accenture's "Skills to Succeed" worldwide program for a fully-equipped learning facility called the Ideas Exchange Room.
Under the Accenture's ELITE (Education that Leads to IT Employment) program, PLM is among the select six (6) schools trusted by Accenture in beefing up its global manpower to serve the Top 500 corporations worldwide. This ensures a preferential slot for PLM graduates in premium job offerings, even long prior to graduation.
PLM president Dr. Ma. Leonora V. de Jesus extended her congratulations and said that the grand champion award in the Program the Future Challenge is a clear testament of PLM's unbridled excellence. Through a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder roadmap program which she officially unveiled during her State of the Pamantasan Address (SOPA) in April, De Jesus is poised to upgrade this high repute by expanding the recognition to the ASEAN regional front.
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