• 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
• This year, a total of 80 teams from 32 schools participated in the competition, a marked increase from 33 teams from 10 schools in 2013, and 77 teams from 19 schools last year

Have you ever been frustrated with tangled earphone cords and have had to spend time untangling them?

Or feel overwhelmed when you have to pore over a thick set of notes and try to suss out the key concepts?

Well, Team AHZIP from Anglican High School came up with Ziptachable, an improvised zip made of plastic and nylon that can be attached to existing earphone cords. Unzip the Ziptachable when using your earphones, and simply zip it up for neat storage when not in use. Affordable and one-of-a-kind, the Ziptachable can be easily detached from the earphone cord, and reused on another earphone cord.

This idea enabled Team AHZIP to clinch the top prize and $4000 in the Secondary Schools category at the finals of the third edition of the Youth Innovation Challenge organised by the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at SMU (IIE) on 11 April 2015.

[Photo: Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, presented the prize to Team RevUP from NUS High School, which emerged top in the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category at the Youth Innovation Challenge.]

Team RevUP from NUS High School emerged as champions in the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category and took home $7000. They devised a technology tool which harnesses established techniques spanning the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to automatically craft concept maps and multiple questions from soft-copies of lecture notes. Concept maps help to visually organise and summarise the key concepts; whereas Questions provide feedback to students with regards to which concepts a student has or has not grasped.  

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 and junior colleges in Singapore.

This year, a total of 80 teams from 32 schools participated in the competition, a marked increase from 33 teams from 10 schools in 2013, and 77 teams from 19 schools last year.

Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of IIE, said “This competition serves as a platform for innovators of tomorrow to showcase their entrepreneurial talents and business plans, as well as to widen their network of contacts with fellow participants who are like-minded and creative.

“We are pleased to note that the competition has gained traction among the secondary schools, junior colleges and ITE in Singapore, as evidenced by the increasing participation rate over the years. This shows that the schools are aware of the importance of nurturing innovators and entrepreneurs from a young age by exposing students to relevant concepts and best practices through competitions, while the students themselves are also willing to put their heads together to come up with new ideas and creative solutions. Hopefully, this will encourage more of them to embark on their entrepreneurship journey.”

Secondary schools participating in this year’s competition were grouped into one category, while junior colleges, centralised institute and ITE were grouped into another category. 

[Photo: Mr Andrew Jones (top), Executive Coach at Accadence and Mr George Han (below), Startup Champion of IIE, mentoring the semi-finalists during a boot camp held at SMU on 18 March.]

Participating teams submitted their 3000-word business plan summary by 6 February 2015. A boot camp was conducted on 18 March 2015 for the 12 semi-finalists from each category. Each team was assigned a business mentor to improve their business ideas for the semi-final round that was held on 10 April 2015. Six teams from each category progressed to the finals on 11 April 2015.

The judging panel comprised of Dr Miles Gilman, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at IIE, Mr Ronnie Wee, Founder and Managing Partner of Incuvest, and Mr Uday Deshpande, Co-founder of Tenshi Peak.

The finalists for each category were judged on their business plan’s market fit, market potential, unique selling points, financials and operational plan.

In the Secondary Schools category, Team Vexistence from Ngee Ann Secondary School claimed the first runner-up position (cash prize of $2000) with their customizable, portable and simple urban farming product. Team Alpha from Crescent Girls' School came in as second runner-up (cash prize of $1000) with their tracking and guiding device for the silver industry, dementia patients and their families.

The other three finalists in this category were My First Bottle from Nanyang Girls' High School, Team CrezInnov from Crescent Girls' School, and Team GESS E-Club from Gan Eng Seng School.

For the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category, Team Tempus from Hwa Chong Institution came in second (cash prize of $3000) with an app to enhance transport experience. Team Sharpener from River Valley High School took the third prize (cash prize of $1500) by creating a website which matches eldercare product producers and service providers with families who require care for their elderly.

The other three finalists were Team Crescendo from Victoria Junior College, Team Ideal Gas from National Junior College, and Team Sync from St Andrew's Junior College.

[Photo: Mr Clarence Hoe, Group Director of Human Resource Group at IE Singapore, presented the IE Internationalisation Award to Team Vexistence (top) from Ngee An Secondary School and Team Sync (below) from St Andrew’s Junior College.]

In addition, IE Singapore sponsored a special prize called the IE Internationalisation Award based on a team’s market insights and internationalisation strategy. Team Vexistence from Ngee Ann Secondary School won the award (cash prize of $700) in the Secondary School category, while Team Sync from St Andrew's Junior College did the same (cash prize of $1000) for the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category.

Ms Ng Weiqi, a teacher with Anglican High School said, "The Youth Innovation Challenge has been a great learning opportunity for my students. Seeing their passion, hard work and growth in confidence, I am very proud of their achievement and I am certain this experience will spur them on in their entrepreneurial journey."

Tan Sze Ing of Team Alpha from Crescent Girls' School shared, “It has been an enriching experience and we have learnt many things from this competition, in particular business skills, presentation skills, team work and determination."

[Featured photo: Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, presented the prize to Team AHZIP from Anglican High School, which emerged top in the Secondary Schools category at the Youth Innovation Challenge.]