WATERLOO – BlackBerry will present a new award for budding scientists who showcase their scientific and technical chops in a competition to build the best mobile application.
The BlackBerry Smartphone App Development Award will be presented at the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2014, the largest and most established science-based competition for students in the country. Top winners of the award will each receive one-on-one mentorship with a BlackBerry mobile application developer expert, a BlackBerry 10 smartphone, and cash prizes.
The award consists of three categories: Junior (grades 7 and 8 or Secondary I and II in Quebec), Intermediate (grades 9 and 10 or Secondary III and IV in Quebec) and Senior (grades 11 and 12 or Secondary V, Cegep I and II in Quebec). To be eligible, students are required to build a mobile application using PhoneGap or Appcelerator that meets the BlackBerry 10 UI guidelines. This means the application will be eligible for the Built for BlackBerry certification and can be easily deployed to other mobile platforms.
Approximately 500 students who have competed and won at their regional science fairs will be descending on Canada-Wide Science Fair for the national championship in Windsor, ON from May 10-17, 2014. Finalists will demonstrate their scientific creations to a panel of judges, which will include two BlackBerry employees. All submissions will be judged based on the key criteria of scientific thought, originality, creativity and communication.
"We are pleased to support Canada-Wide Science Fair, and to introduce the new BlackBerry Smartphone App Development Award to broaden scientific learning in a fun and challenging way”, said said Martyn Mallick, BlackBerry’s VP global alliances and ecosystems, in the announcement. “CWSF is a great platform to encourage the next generation to continue pursuing their love for science and technology."
"The introduction of the BlackBerry Smartphone App Development Award will continue the CWSF tradition of instilling the spirit of innovation in participants and prepare them for the bright opportunities of a future career in science – especially in the rapidly growing field of mobile computing", added Brad McCabe from Youth Science Canada.
