LeBow Student to Participate in Microsoft Competition U.S. Finals

LeBow College of Business senior Zack Howitt, a business and engineering major, and his partner, Drexel computer science freshman Dan Sullivan, presented their entry in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2011 competition to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett in Malvern last month. The team designed a mobile phone application that allows community health workers in developing countries to better manage visits to community members.

Howitt and Sullivan were named among the top five finalists in the United States out of 232 entries, earning the pair a trip to Redmond, Wash., to compete in the U.S. Finals April 8-11. The first-place finishers from each country will go on to attend the Worldwide Finals, held in a different country every year.

Microsoft created the Imagine Cup nine years ago with the idea that students can and will change the world. The Imagine Cup competition spans one year, beginning with local, regional, and online contests in over 100 countries/regions.

The idea for the project grew out of Howitt’s involvement as a volunteer with the Global Action Foundation and two trips he took to Sierra Leone in 2010 to implement a microfinance initiative.