Avcol students among Top 10 in world at "tech Olympics"

Dominic Colaco, Finn McGregor, and Karthik Padma have returned from Florida this week after representing Avcol at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championships - regarded by many as the "Olympics of the tech world."

Finn achieved 7th in the world for Microsoft PowerPoint, and Dominic achieved 10th in the world in Microsoft Word; an incredible achievement in a competition that attracts over one million competitors worldwide.

The competition itself was held at the Hilton Orlando, where over 190 finalists from across the globe gathered to put their Microsoft Office skills to the test. “We were among the youngest there,” said Dominic, who is in Year 9. “Most of the others were in late high school or early university, which made being there feel even more awesome.”

The competition challenged students to apply their skills in a real-world scenario. They had to create a document, PowerPoint presentation and collate data for a nonprofit called Limbitless Solutions, which designs prosthetics for people with limb differences. “They gave us a set of criteria, but left it vague enough that we could interpret it creatively.," explains Finn. "That made it really interesting.”

Finn believes that working on a practical case study helped solidify his learning:

“It’s one thing to know the tools, but applying them to something meaningful really helps it stick, which will be helpful for when I'm employed one day."

After nervously completing the test in a room full of competitors, the trio had to wait a full day for results. They spent that time exploring Universal Studios, braving rollercoasters and soaking up the Florida 43 degree heat. Another highlight was visiting the Kennedy Space Center, where they saw the legendary Atlantis shuttle.

Dominic and Finn were absolutely thrilled when they had heard they had made the top 10 in the world for their respective applications.

The experience has given the team a major boost in confidence and a clearer sense of what to expect next time. “We can now pass that intel back to Mr Prasad to help train the next cohort of Avcol students,” said Dominic.

Looking ahead, Finn predicts that Microsoft PowerPoint will evolve with more AI functionality, making it even more powerful and intuitive, while Dominic hopes to see a simplified version of Microsoft Word developed, so younger students can begin learning the basics even earlier.

Avondale College would like to acknowledge Zeph Morgan and the team at ACE for their support of our students.