Student from Taiwan Named Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 World Champion

Certiport (www.certiport.com), a Pearson VUE business, the leading test delivery solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets, today announced the 2013 Microsoft Office Specialist World Champions, culminating the most popular technology skills competition on Microsoft Office since its inception in 2002.  Cheng Shu Mei of Taiwan was named the World Champion in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007.

The 2013 Certiport Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office attracted more than 344,000 unique candidates from 90 countries who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. 100 student finalists participated in the final round of competition.

The top 9 Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 finalists are:

  • Cheng Shu Mei, Taiwan, gold medal
  • Li Jin Sim, Singapore, silver medal
  • Cory Bolles, USA, bronze medal
  • Kota Wakui, Japan
  • Anmol Garg, India
  • Yannick Wanderer, Germany
  • Omar Caloca Lafont, Mexico
  • Thanyalak Sritham, Thailand
  • Yuan Chu Jun, China

Certiport recognized gold medalist Cheng Shu Mei at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship Student Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. and presented her with a $5,000 scholarship.  Li Jin Sim received a 2,500 scholarship and Cory Bolles received a $1,000 scholarship.

“More than 650,000 exams were uploaded as part of this competition, so these student winners are truly the best of the best at effectively using Microsoft Office tools,” said Alison Cunard, general manager for Microsoft Learning Experiences Group.  “Students worldwide are realizing the benefits of mastering these key productivity skills as they prepare to enter the workforce.  Learning industry-leading Microsoft programs helps them to be more productive on the job from day one and that is what employers are looking for today.”

In the concluding round, competitors participated in unique project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create presentations for the information presented in PowerPoint.

“In its 12th year, the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship continues to grow in popularity as more students around the world realize the value of earning an industry-recognized technology certification,” said Jim Holm, executive vice president, Certiport.  “This year we had a 24 percent increase in the number of participants, and more than 4 million individuals have now taken a Microsoft Specialist exam to validate their skills.  Holding the World Champion title will stand out on their resumes as they continue their academic and professional careers.”

Next year, Certiport will host the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Anaheim, CA, U.S. Download high-resolution photos of this year’s winners, along with images of the student awards ceremony at: www.flickr.com/photos/certiport.

About Certiport

Certiport, a Pearson VUE company, is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services delivered through an expansive network of over 12,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide. Certiport manages a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs including: the official Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, the Microsoft Technology Associate certification program, the Microsoft Certified Educators program, the Adobe® Certified Associate certification program, the HP Accredited Technical Associate, the CompTIA Strata™ IT Fundamentals, the Autodesk Certified User certification program, the Intuit QuickBooks Certified User certification program and the Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³®). Certiport reliably delivers over two million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce and corporate technology markets in more than 158 countries and 27 languages worldwide. For more information, please visit www.certiport.com or follow Certiport on Twitter at www.twitter.com/certiport.