Hui sisters win Imagine Cup
First place was a snap
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| Jennifer and Melissa Hui |
Undergrads Melissa and Jennifer Hui took first place in the photography category of the Microsoft Imagine Cup in Paris, beating out teams from Austria, Croatia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. They took home $8,000 in prize money, starred in a two-page color spread in American Photography magazine and had the chance to gallivant around Europe.
The sisters were part of an original pool of 200,000 students from around the world to compete in the themed event “Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment.” The competition is made up of nine invitationals including software design, interface design and game development.
The sisters’ winning photo essay transports viewers to rain forests and depicts how technology is being applied there to try to slow global warming and deforestation caused by the negative effects of agriculture, ranching and unwise harvesting of natural resources.
Through the Imagine Cup, Microsoft encourages students to apply their passion and creativity to technological innovations that can make a difference in the world. The two West Bloomfield residents knew they were in a fairly good position to win at the Musée du Louvre after nabbing the top slot in the American branch of the competition held in Los Angeles.
But success hasn’t gone to their heads.
“With our respective majors focused in life sciences and biology we were motivated to tackle the topic of environmental sustainability with a perspective in tropical rain forest conservation by use of monitoring technologies,” Melissa says. “I personally wanted to reach the roots of an ongoing global environment crisis.”
Melissa, a graduate of Stoney Creek High School, is a senior majoring in biological sciences; Jennifer, a graduate of the International Academy, is a sophomore majoring in biology with a minor in economics.
While studying the hard sciences, the sisters have found photography to be a choice creative outlet. Jennifer began as a landscape photographer documenting travel and nature; in high school she produced a photo book on the sand dunes and lakefront of western Michigan. Melissa began digital imaging at age 10 before moving into portrait photography. In 2007 they placed in the Imagine Cup top 20 for a short film.