- Winning schools announced for the Minister's
Innovation Challenge 2023
- Students recognised for developing innovative
solutions to local problems
- Winners will share a $10,000 cash prize pool
The winners of the
Minister's Innovation Challenge 2023 have been announced today by Education
Minister Dr Tony Buti.
The top three winning
teams were named during an online exhibition, and were recognised for their
outstanding problem-solving skills and creative solutions to real-world
problems.
Bob Hawke College won
this year's top prize of $5,000 for developing an app to address heavy traffic
and congestion at The Matthew's Netball Centre car park in Jolimont.
The app shows the live
and predicted status of the car park at a given time, with the option to host
or share a carpool with a teammate or friends.
Denmark Senior High
School took out second place, and will receive $3,000 for designing an
interactive art installation that aims to reduce the amount of plastic entering
the ocean at Denmark beaches.
It features a drinking fountain
and rubbish bin connected by a wave sculpture which has space to educate people
about microplastics.
The $2,000 third place
prize was awarded to the Exmouth District High School team, who came up with an
app that provides visitors with a fully immersive virtual reality (VR)
experience to ensure visitors to the region act sustainably.
The VR app enables users
to experience the life, play, and struggles of a native animal of their choice,
so they have greater empathy for the biology of the region as well as the
threats to coral reefs worldwide.
Thirty teams of Year 8
students from Western Australian public schools participated in The Minister's
Innovation Challenge this year.
It involved students
using design thinking to develop innovative solutions to local issues or
problems.
The challenge aims to
prepare young people to lead and innovate in today's world. It also forms part
of the Career Learning Toolkit, which addresses the need for career learning
for secondary school students.
The challenge was
facilitated by Bloom: The Centre for Youth Innovation.
Comments attributed to Education Minister Dr Tony Buti:
"Congratulations to the winners of the Innovation Challenge for the
creative ways they developed solutions to local issues.
"I was highly impressed by the way students engaged with the challenge, and
took part in real-life learning opportunities.
"This challenge helps ensure young people are better prepared to lead and
innovate in our changing world.
"It also offers students the opportunity to connect with the local
community as well as industry partners."
