It was a big day for University of Houston computer science department game design teams: Team Big Impact Bear won first place in the U.S. finals, with two other UH teams also placing:

Tackling deforestation, water pollution and poverty earned University of Houston (UH) students top honors in computer game designing at the U.S. finals of the 2011 Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. With the annual contest drawing more than 74,000 of the nation’s brightest technology students to Microsoft’s headquarters, UH made quite an impact with three of its four finalists winning in game design.

— Lisa Merkl @ University of Houston