The Young Innovator Awards (YIA) stepped it up a notch again this year with a record number of entries and a stellar panel of judges. Pushing the bar ever higher were two new additions: a Young Professionals Category and the Innovation Forum.
YIA aims to inspire and engage Western Bay of Plenty secondary students and young professionals in the process of innovative thinking and problem solving to design a product or service. We have been working with Priority One and Woods Creative to develop and implement this programme each year for the past 4 years and we are passionate about it! The creative thinking and energy of the students inspires us and it's a privilege to assist in nurturing that talent through the YIA competition.
YIA recognises that, as a region, we need to be proactive and use our expertise through innovation and sustainability to make us globally competitive for the future. YIA aims to inspire students to become true creative innovators through learning the basics of exploring and spotting opportunities, developing ideas, creating something, and realising it.
A panel of innovation leaders was convened to judge the awards this year. The judges used the five categories of research, communication, sustainability, innovation, and creativity to select the finalists and ultimately the supreme winners.
On Thursday evening (8 August), as part of the launch of Western Bay@Work at the ASB Arena and in front of representatives from local government, business and education and community organizations, the finalists were recognized for their efforts and the winners were announced.
Sun Smart Sensor by Caitlyn Donaghy, Marnie Hunter, and Arianna Iaccarino of Otumoetai College.
A stick on tattoo which helps keep track of sun exposure to ensure people (particularly kids) know when to re-apply their sun screen. The judges loved the fact that it was a simple solution to a big health problem. Congratulations to this team who won $1000 cash sponsored by Page Macrae Engineering.
Swap Top Tooth Brush by Emily McCarthy of Tauranga Girls' College.
Why throw out your whole tooth brush when you can simply replace the head?! The judges were very impressed with the research and well thought through design work that Emily put into her project. Congratulations to Emily who won $1000 cash sponsored by Priority One.
Rather than a single winner the judges elected to share the prize between two Highly Commended finalists. George & Willy Corporate Merchandise by George Wilkins and William McCallum and Knowtify by Charles Leota. Each winner received $500 cash and a place in the Plenty of Innovation Entrepreneurs’ Bootcamp sponsored by Plus Group Horticulture Limited and Enterprise Angels, respectively.
Check out the full list of finalists and winners here.
The YIA People’s Choice Award will be open until Sunday 25th August. Shoppers at Bayfair Shopping Centre can view the finalist's work and vote for who they think should win. A $600 Bayfair voucher is up for grabs kindly sponsored by Bayfair AMP Capital.
A key aim for YIA is to establish innovation events around the awards each year that constructively engage with regional businesses. This year we introduced the Innovation Forum, “When Business and Innovation Collide”. Targeted at the business community, the YIA judges spoke at the forum on Friday 9th August to a packed audience at the Trinity Wharf Hotel.
Each speaker, all experts in their field, discussed how innovation has impacted their business and shared some insights and tips with the audience. They answered the questions:
• How do you foster a culture of innovation?
• What will give your business the edge?
• What is the first step?
Common themes that emerged from the presentations were the importance of growing the right team of people around you, developing deep customer empathy, the importance of a good development process, and developing a clear vision for the project as well as having the all important cash.
Rob Heebink - 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast'
Dave Darling's new acronym - 'CIMITYM' or 'Cash is more important than your mother'
Tony Hadfield - 'If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevance less'
Ed Burak - on research with their customers: 'We're looking for opportunities not answers'
We will be issuing a full write up in our blog in the next week so watch out for that if you’re looking for some detailed takeaways.
DAVID DARLING, CEO - PACIFIC EDGE
Pacific Edge is a NZ based cancer diagnostic company specialising in the discovery and commercialisation of diagnostic and prognostic technology for the early detection and monitoring of cancer.
ROB HEEBINK, R+D EXECUTIVE - GALLAGHER
Gallagher are celebrating 75 years of innovation and business excellence, providing innovative solutions to agricultural, security and fuel partners around the world.
STEVE SAUNDERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR - PLUS GROUP OF COMPANIES
Plus Group of Companies specialise in horticulture management/consultancy, global pollen production, robotics development, international JVs, tech R&D/innovation and science.
ED BURAK, USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN MANAGER - TOURISM HOLDINGS
Tourism Holdings is the largest provider of recreational vehicles across Australia, NZ and the USA.
BLYTHE REES-JONES, CREATIVE DIRECTOR - LOCUS RESEARCH
Locus Research is an award winning Product Development Company whose innovative products have helped position NZ export companies as leaders in key markets across the world.
TONY HADFIELD, R+D COMMERCIALISATION CONSULTANT
Tony works in research and development and commercialisation of R&D, and most recently GM of Seafood Innovations, a company promoting innovation within the seafood sector by funding R&D projects.
YIA is an initiative led by Priority One’s Instep programme, Locus Research, and Woods Creative, with support from Callaghan Innovation, Enterprise Angels, and ExportNZ BOP.
