Last week, Microsoft Reactor – the biggest Microsoft Startup Hub in the Southern Hemisphere – hosted the top 45 students of the CODE4FUN Christmas Coding Challenge. It was an incredible opportunity for our students to meet, learn and be inspired by Annie Parker, who is Microsoft’s Global Head of Startups; Dave Glover, Regional Developer Advocate; Lynn Dang, Head of Talent Acquisition; Dr Neil Roodyn, VR Advocate and Michael Watson, Microsoft Reactor Program manager.

The students learnt about cutting-edge technology such as AI, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality. Dave Glover helped our students to try machine learning for themselves and they taught a computer how to distinguish a banana from other fruits. It was so much fun to see how the machine did exactly what it was programmed to do and pick the banana from a table of many objects.

The students also had the opportunity to experience Microsoft’s ‘Mixed Reality’ headsets. During the experience, they learnt about space and saw the connection between virtual and real reality.

One of the main takeaways from Annie Parker is that it’s never too late to start to learn to code. She was confident that many of the talented CODE4FUN students would one day become Microsoft Developers and use their skills to make positive change.

Thank you very much to all the Microsoft staff for inspiring our students and encouraging them to continue their coding journey. Our students are more excited than ever about the endless possibilities of coding and the opportunities this important skill will create for them in the future.

The 2018 CODE4FUN Christmas Coding Challenge is proudly supported by Officeworks and ASUS.

We will be announcing the details of the next CODE4FUN Coding Challenge in early March 2019. We invite all our students to participate in the next challenge for their chance to win fantastic prizes, visit a leading tech company and of course, learn and have lots of fun along the way!

Check out some of the photos from the day below: