Winners off to Paris to compete in world finals

DAVID ALEXANDER/The Press

TOP PRIZE: Taxibus developers, from left, Stephen Fitchett, Louis Sayers, Yugan Yugaraja and Janina Voight, have won the New Zealand final of Microsoft's Imagine Cup.

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Four Canterbury University students will be winging their way to France in July after winning the New Zealand final of Microsoft's Imagine Cup.

Stephen Fitchett, 20, Louis Sayers, 21, Yugan Yugaraja, 20, and Janina Voigt, 21, competed against three other North Island teams to win the final in Auckland yesterday.

They now have a chance to win $US15,000 ($NZ19,000) at the world Imagine Cup Software Design finals in Paris, where they will compete against teams from 50 other countries.

Team Phoenix, which featured in BusinessDay on Thursday, spent six months developing the Taxibus system, designed to reduce congestion and pollution.

Microsoft New Zealand managing director Kevin Ackhurst praised the students saying their creativity and innovation was inspiring not only to those who might be interested in the future of technology, but to anyone interested in having a positive impact on their community and the world.