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Poly grad emerges top in global Microsoft competition

SINGAPORE — Student Elliot Tan has emerged as this year’s Microsoft Office Specialist World Champion in Excel 2013 after beating more than 140 finalists from 47 different countries, such as the United States and Germany.

Mr Tan prepared for the competition by familiarising himself with the software. Photo: Robin Choo

Mr Tan prepared for the competition by familiarising himself with the software. Photo: Robin Choo

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SINGAPORE — Student Elliot Tan has emerged as this year’s Microsoft Office Specialist World Champion in Excel 2013 after beating more than 140 finalists from 47 different countries, such as the United States and Germany.

In the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship held on Aug 12 in Dallas, Texas, Mr Tan, 20, used his skills to complete the Excel challenge in a 50-minute time frame and ended up winning US$7,500 (S$10,500).

Mr Tan, who graduated with a diploma in information technology at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said he was encouraged by his lecturer Ismail Fulu to take part in the Microsoft Championship.

He prepared himself for the competition by familiarising himself with the software and taking sample tests.

In the final round of the championship, competitors participated in project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create spreadsheets in Excel.

“It’s about taking a large chunk of data and creating a visual representation of it,” said Mr Tan.

Apart from him, eight other students from several schools and educational institutions, such as Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechic, took part in the championship, where they represented the Republic in various categories, such as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.

During their 10-day trip to the US, which was sponsored by Certiport Singapore, they also visited the Adobe office and Autodesk office in San Francisco.

Mr Tan, who received the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Outstanding Achievement Award during his graduation ceremony in May, is waiting to be enlisted into National Service. He plans to read computer science at the National University of Singapore.

Mr Tan hopes to use his technology skills to inspire others. “I don’t mind coaching people in secondary school, not just in the IT field, but maybe in maths too. It’s the best time to mould students.”

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