Claremont Graduate University Launches Scholarship Contest for Student GIS Software Developers

CLAREMONT, Calif., Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Claremont Graduate University's (CGU) School of Information Systems and Technology (SISAT) has partnered with digital mapping leader Esri to offer more than $70,000 in scholarships and cash prizes to students who best use geographic information systems (GIS) technology to help address some of society's most pressing problems.

The Student GIS Challenge competition encourages recent college graduates and undergraduate students who are approaching graduation to develop GIS software applications in one of two challenge areas: public health and humanitarian issues or transportation safety.

The students who submit the best application in each challenge area will receive a first-place prize of $1,000 in cash and the opportunity for a $35,000 scholarship to pursue an advanced degree concentrating on GIS in SISAT at CGU.  

"We are thrilled to be partnering with a world leader in GIS to encourage innovation by students in addressing important societal issues," SISAT Dean Tom Horan said.

The first-place prize also includes up to $1,000 to travel to California for CGU's GIS Day on Nov. 16, 2011. Other top finalists will receive $100 cash prizes. A panel of experts will choose the winners. Submissions will be judged on the entrant's ability to extend our understanding of the two selected challenge areas.

Public-health and humanitarian issues include spatial applications and analysis relating to local, regional, or global-health issues, as well as humanitarian efforts to deal with national and international relief efforts.

Transportation safety includes behavioral, policy, and engineering applications and analysis affecting transportation safety for pedestrians, teenagers, motorcycles, or commercial vehicles.

Entries will be accepted from Sept. 12, 2011 to Nov. 1, 2011.

Participants are encouraged to use Esri's tools and software to develop the applications.

Additional rules, details, and requirements for scholarship eligibility are available at www.cgu.edu/gischallenge.

About the School of Information Systems and Technology
Based at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California, SISAT is one of the top programs to offer a masters or Ph.D. in information systems, health information management and more.

About Claremont Graduate University
Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is one of the top graduate schools in the United States. Our nine academic schools conduct leading-edge research and award masters and doctoral degrees in 24 disciplines. Because the world's problems are not simple nor easily defined, diverse faculty and students research and study across the traditional discipline boundaries to create new and practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world. A Southern California based graduate school devoted entirely to graduate research and study, CGU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio.

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SOURCE Claremont Graduate University