OUTRAM SECONDARY SCHOOL AND ITE COLLEGE CENTRAL EMERGED AS WINNERS AT SMU’S YOUTH INNOVATION CHALLENGE

OUTRAM SECONDARY SCHOOL AND ITE COLLEGE CENTRAL EMERGED AS WINNERS AT SMU’S YOUTH INNOVATION CHALLENGE

Monday Apr 03,2017

Tags :  youth, Innovation, challenge, singapore management university, winners, 2017, entrepreneur, business venture

 

Singapore, 1 April 2017 (Saturday) – The fifth edition of the Youth Innovation Challenge, organised by the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at SMU (IIE), came to a successful conclusion today with Outram Secondary School and ITE College Central emerging tops in the junior and senior categories respectively. Launched in 2013, the Youth Innovation Challenge was organised and designed by IIE as a means of encouraging an innovative mindset among students from secondary schools and junior colleges. The Ministry of Education was consulted on the format and the content of the competition. 

This annual contest is open to all secondary schools, ITE, centralised institute and junior colleges in Singapore. This year, a total of 65 teams from 29 schools participated in the competition. Each team is comprised of up to 5 members. An increase was observed in the junior category meant for secondary schools in which 40 submissions were received from 17 schools, compared with 33 submissions from 19 schools last year. Mr Hau Koh Foo, Director of IIE, said “This competition seeks to cultivate the interests of our youths in the field of innovation & entrepreneurship early. They will acquire many enterprising skills in the course of the competition -- problem solving, leadership, interpersonal skills and teamwork. These are the skills that they can take with them from school and across different work environments in their life.” Secondary schools participating in this year’s competition were grouped into the junior category, while junior colleges, centralised institute and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) were grouped into the senior category. 

The competition started with a briefing and training workshop on 05 Nov 2016. Junior Achievement Singapore conducted the workshop for both the senior and junior categories. The 20 finalists, 10 from each category, received mentorship through a boot camp on 15 March 2017 to help them further develop and refine their business plan proposal.” The judging panel for the junior category comprised of Howie Lau, Chief of Marketing Officer at Starhub; Daniel Lim, Co-founder of Reebonz; Ting Yan Leck, Director of Tri5 Ventures; Ng Kai Scene, Divisional Director, Environmental & Infrastructure Solution from IE Singapore; and Ronnie Wee, Managing Partner of IncuVest Pte Ltd. For the senior category, the judges were Semun Ho, Executive Director of Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation; Shirley Wong, Managing Partner of TNF Ventures; Lim Song Joo, Founder of BWG Consulting Pte Ltd; Lee Yu Fung, Group Director of Lifestyle Business Group from IE Singapore; and Elim Chew, Founder of 77th Street. The finalists for each category were judged on innovativeness of business idea, goto-market strategy, social impact, comprehensiveness of business plan, financials and internationlisation.

In the junior category, Team The Zelter from Outram Secondary School emerged as champions and walked away with $2500. The team designed a water and fire resistant portable tent - the size of a backpack - which features an inbuilt solar-power system that powers light, a heat generator and a charging port for electronic devices. There is also a water filtration system to ensure access to clean water. Ms Jada Rose Q Camero of Team The Zelter said, “This competition provides an ideal platform for us to challenge ourselves to find ways to impact the world as young adults.”

The other winners in this category are:

Award School Prize
Best Innovation Award (Business) Team The Zelter, Outram Secondary School $1,000
Best Innovation Award (Technology) Team ECOPiezo, Queensway Secondary School $1,000
Best Social Impact Award Team SolTrax, Outram Secondary School $1,000
Best Go-to-Market Award Team Tripenser, Broadrick Secondary School $1,000
Most Comprehensive Business Plan Award Team Nucule, School of Science & Technology $1,000
IE Singapore Internationalisation Award JAYS Team, Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) $1,000

 

For the senior category, Team Re-Life from ITE College Central clinched the top position and took home $4000. The team has worked closely with physiotherapists to develop a multi-purpose equipment that reduces rehabilitation cost for stroke patients and inconvenience to caregivers, as well as promote continuous rehabilitation in the patient’s home. Mr Aaron Yang of Team Re-Life said, “What motivated us to participate in this competition is to create a useful product to ease the recovery process for stroke patients and bring more convenience to their caregivers. We also wanted to reduce the waiting time and costs so users could have a better user experience with home rehabilitation.”

The other winners in this category are:

Award  School Prize
Best Innovation Award (Business) Team Lifeline, Dunman High School  $1,500
Best Innovation Award (Technology) Team Zeus, Millennia Institute $1,500
Best Social Impact Award Team Virtual Ready, Raffles Institution  $1,500
Best Go-to-Market Award Team Re-Life, ITE College Central  $1,500
Most Comprehensive Business Plan Award  Team Insight, St Joseph’s Institution   $1,500
IE Singapore Internationalisation Award Team Copyguard, River Valley High School $1,500

                                                                                                                                                  

SMU extends its heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the fifth edition of the Youth Innovation Challenge and looks forward to greater participation by more secondary schools and junior colleges for next year’s competition. 

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