News & Events

It wasn’t raucous like the scene in The Social Network, but the Windows Phone 7 DMZ Code-a-Thon, hosted in Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) March 4-5 was still pretty intense. It turns out that ‘round-the clock coding is a more serious business than the Oscar-nominated film would have you believe.

For 24 hours, postsecondary students from across the GTA took over the DMZ, huddled around laptops, harried, hushed, but cool under pressure, working to build the next great mobile application for the recently launched Windows Phone 7. Fuelled largely by pizza and energy drinks, the coders toiled for the chance to win a new Windows Phone 7 and to have their app featured in the Windows Phone Marketplace. The event was one of several local coding events Microsoft has created for students.
 
“We were pleased to partner with Microsoft on this event, because it really supports the underlying message of the Digital Media Zone,” said Valerie Fox, DMZ Director. “We believe that students are natural innovators. Their energy and passion fuels their natural inclination to fill in the technology gaps, to design the world the way they want to interact with it, and to never be limited by what is currently available. All we need to do is support and encourage them with initiatives like the DMZ and platforms like this code-a-thon.”

After 24 hours of staring at lines of code, Andrei Borodin from the University of Toronto was awarded the top prize for his card game app, Durak. Andrei wins a Windows Phone 7 phone and Durak will be featured in the Windows Phone Marketplace. The application is also eligible to compete in Microsoft’s upcoming national coding event, Battle of the Apps, where prizing includes internship positions at Microsoft and its industry partners.

Opened in April 2010, Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) is a multidisciplinary workspace for young entrepreneurs infused with the energy and resources of downtown Toronto. Set atop Yonge-Dundas Square, this hub of digital media innovation, collaboration and commercialization is home to both entrepreneurial start-ups and industry solution-providers. With access to overhead and business services, students and alumni can fast-track their product launches, stimulating Canada’s emerging digital economy through spending and job creation. In its first year of operations, the DMZ helped more than 80 entrepreneurs to launch 14 companies. For more information on the DMZ, visit www.ryerson.ca/dmz.

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers close to 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to 28,000 students, including 2,000 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 tenured and tenure-track faculty and staff, and more than 130,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca. 

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Kearney
Public Affairs, DMZ
Ryerson University
Office: 416-979-5000 x 4282
hkearney@ryerson.ca
 
If you require this in another format, please contact Ryerson University Public Affairs at 416-979-5000 x 7134.

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