IBM and TD Bank Programming Challenge

Join the IBM and TD Bank Challenge and win a trip to the finals to be held in Ottawa, ON at the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing Conference -  CAN-CWiC 2016.    Finalists will receive transportation to and accommodation at CAN-CWiC.  Finals will take place on January 22nd, 2016 prior to the conference.  Finalists will need to arrive in Ottawa on January 21st.   You will be coached by expert mentors prior to making your final presentation on January 22nd in Ottawa.  Winners will be announced at the CAN-CWiC banquet.

The competition is open to all female students attending a Canadian university or college program.   Teams will consist of up to 4 women - smaller teams and individuals welcome!  If you are signing up alone, please indicate if you would like to work alone or if you would like to be assigned to a team. 

Bluemix Training

Join us for a webinar to get you started on Bluemix.

Title: Introduction to Bluemix and Internet of Things FoundationDate: Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Time: 12:00 PM Central Standard Time

Duration: 1 hour

Register Here - https://ibm.biz/gctcwebinar1

The Challenge

This event will focus on lifestyle banking. People interact with financial accounts regularly through: checking their balances, making purchases, automated payments and transfers, etc. All of you have experience with this but now you have a chance to design a new and better banking experience for everyday lifestyles. Examples of places where opportunities abound include:
  • sporting events and sport activities
  • literature, music, movies and other popular culture
  • temporarily living away from home
  • traveling
  • living life in the fast lane - no time to visit a bank or even sit down at home for a transaction
  • social activities
  • charitable activities
  • investing

Rules

  • All submissions must be created for this competition and cannot have been submitted at another event.
  • All work must belong to team members who assert that they have the rights to all materials submitted.
  • Special for this competition, all team members must be women, resident of Canada, and eligible to participate and win prizes.
  • Winners of the online round of competition must be willing to travel to Ottawa for the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing and will present to judges on January 22, 2016 before the main conference begins.
  • All ideas and designs remain the property of the developers. 
  • Deadline for Round 1 Submissions:  Midnight December 13th, 2015 (EST) -- video submission due.

Learning Bluemix

Sign up for a free trial Bluemix account.   It is essential that Bluemix is used as the development platform.   The trial is a 30 day period.  You will receive a promo code to extend the trial at the end of the 30 day period.  If you need a promo-code please email [email protected] to request.  Codes can only be used once.

Online In Person
  • Campus groups with 20+ people may request an on-site training session.    Please email [email protected] to request.

Judging

  1. The purpose of the app design should be clear and useful.
  2. Demonstration does not crash.
  3. The app should make good use of general technology (database, web, mobile, cloud, etc.) and should use IBM Bluemix as the development base.  Simulations are acceptable as long as you make sure it is clear what is simulated.
  4. The business purpose should be clear and documented with some marketing and customer analysis.
  5. There should be a clearly-stated business case (both for non-profit and for-profit solutions).
  6. The first round of competition will take place online and teams are required to submit a video presentation of their app design and business case.  (Location for submission TBA).  VIDEOS SHOULD BE NO LONGER THAN 5 MINUTES!
  7. Submissions will NOT be judged on video quality so feel free to use your smartphones, tablets or web-cam to record your submission.

Prizes

Team prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the judges with a first prize of not less than $1000 and a second prize of not less than $500 and a third prize of not less than $250. The judges may award other prizes. In the event of a tie for any of the top places, the total prizes will be pooled and split between the two teams.

Travel expenses and accommodations for finalists (number of teams to be determined) will be reimbursed.  You must be able to attend the final competition at CAN-CWiC in Ottawa on January 22nd, 2015.   (Travel day if required will be January 21st).
Teams may sign up any time prior to the contest submission deadline.