The Microsoft Imagine Cup "is a global competition that empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications that shape how we live, work and play."

Last year, the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL) hosted the National finals at U of T. This year, three teams will travel to Vancouver for this year’s National finals on Saturday, May 28. The winner of this contest will advance to the World Finals.

Two teams are the result of projects in CSC454/491, led and co-instructed by DCSIL co-founders and co-directors Mario Grech and Helen Kontozopoulos. The theme of the winter term course was “AI + Music” and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) formed a partnership with DCSIL for this course.

These teams are also in discussion with SOCAN to evaluate future commercial partnerships that might arise from the solutions developed during the semester. The teams are:

Abata Lyrics Extractor
Our product is able to extrac lyrics from (amateur and professional) cover songs on YouTube in order to match them to the original work.
Team: Umut Akkaya, Roman Polyanovsky and Yaroslav Taben

Muma, Music Matching AI
Muma is a music matching service that can help identify music usage online to capture more revenue for its customers. Muma aims to improve the music industry for msuic makers and music listeners alike.
Team: Gabriel Bussieres, Adamo Carolli, Irene Lin, Shunzhe Yu and Yiming Yu

Another finalist is from a course Kontozopoulos taught at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

CheaprEats
CheaprEasts is a mobile app service with payment integration allowing students at post-secondary institutions to pre-order and pick up their food. Customers receive high discounts on leftover food while earning loyalty points per order or delivery.
Team: Ralph Maamari

In total there are six teams competing in the National finals. One team is from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and two teams advance from the University of Waterloo.

Good luck to U of T's teams!