A discreet bird deterrent that will prevent injuries from swooping magpies has earned a top award.
Suncoast Christian College’s Bird Bell Team claimed the main prize at the 2022 Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards.
The Bird Bell was designed to prevent injuries from the likes of swooping magpies and promote safety and wellbeing for sporting enthusiasts, picnic lovers and more, through a device that emits a high frequency, undetected by the human ear.
Team members Tayah Allison, Chloe Lever and Alaya Page and coordinator Adam King, were ecstatic with the result.
Second place was awarded to Matthew Flinders Anglican College students Amy Morrison, Tyler Cuttill and Bethany Slocombe, for their Orbital Caddy concept.
Orbital Caddy is a rotating shelf system, similar to a Ferris wheel, that allows easy access to each of the compartments, designed for people with reduced movement or reach.
Third place was awarded Chancellor State College’s Grace Murray, Amitis Rezazadeh and Eleanor Dean for their concept Peas in Pods, to provide a safe home for all in need, through modular pod houses that are compact and temporary, whilst being sustainable.
Scroll down for list of finalists and their schools
The Emerging Entrepreneur Award went to Glasshouse Christian College student Jared Moss for a gamification app educating and connecting newly diagnosed youth with Type 1 Diabetes.
The outstanding students shared in more than $10,000 worth of technology prizes for themselves and their school as well as personalised trophies.
Suncoast Christian College students will also receive an exclusive mentoring experience – a first for the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards.
The winners will work with Garry Swanepoel from the Startup Precinct, to join his new Young Starters Launch Program.
Two previous participants in the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards, Jameson Harvey from Red Dirt Robotics and Sarah Eisenmenger from Zest Robotics, shared their stories of how the MTIA inspired their careers in innovation and technology.At the live pitch and awards ceremony at Venue 114, Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson said the quality of ideas the region’s young people were producing was astounding.“These awards have been a tremendous success since they were launched in 2016, generating an impressive range of innovative and creative ideas,” he said.
“What never ceases to amaze and delight me is that we have an abundance of creative young minds here on the Sunshine Coast coming through this program.
“It certainly reflects our vision for the Sunshine Coast to be Australia’s most sustainable region: healthy, smart, creative.
“The young people pitching last night were the very demonstration of that vision in action and showed that we were on the right track in enabling opportunities to succeed in the 21st century.”
The Telstra Regional Engagement Manager for South East Queensland, Matthew Thornton, said he was absolutely blown away by the calibre of the team’s innovation and ideas.
“At Telstra, we are so proud of our long-standing association with the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards,” he said.
“It is a fantastic program, especially the opportunity for teams to work with industry mentors to grow and expand their creative concept or idea.
“All of the finalist teams did a fantastic job pitching their idea and concept this evening and they all should feel very proud of themselves.
“It was also very impressive seeing such a strong female representation on the winner’s podium last night and highlights why this program is so important in supporting females in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).”
The finalist teams and schools
- SeaShaw – Suncoast Christian College.
- Jasveen-Kynnan – Mountain Creek State High school.
- Bird Bell – Suncoast Christian College.
- Sam And Kyle – Mountain Creek State High School.
- JAJ – Mountain Creek State High School.
- Peas in Pods – Chancellor State College.
- MCSHS_Group_2 – Mountain Creek State High School.
- Type 1 World – Glasshouse Christian College.
- Star Solutions – Matthew Flinders Anglican College.
Sunshine Coast Council partnered with Telstra and Study Sunshine Coast to deliver the 2022 Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards exclusively to high schools within the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area. To find out more about the awards see Study Sunshine Coast – Innovation Awards.
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