Today’s students design for tomorrow

FOUR groups of Mount Clear College’s year nine students presented their own entrepreneurial technology ideas to business and industry leaders at Runway on Thursday, 13 December.

The pitches were part of the Upstart Challenge, an entrepreneurial startup program by charity, Upstart HQ. It’s been running in Geelong for six years and has had 1100 participants.

Co-founder, Heather Kelly was excited about “Ballarat’s turn”.

“Secondary students participate in the challenge, developing entrepreneurial mindsets and the chance to build connections and be mentored by local business leaders,” she said.

The challenge was founded by Ms Kelly and fellow innovator, Jenny Perks to prepare young people for the employment landscape as the region’s industrial economic heritage transforms.

Students, Paige Iskra and Aidan Russell pitched the “Fidgeto” bracelet on Thursday, aiming to help people of all ages to stay calm and release nervous energy.

There was some trepidation amongst the student designers, but Paige felt “privileged” to bring her idea to Ballarat’s tech minds, having considered the market’s “real need” for her product.

“It would be a cool thing to have actually out there, not a prototype or just an idea or imagination,” she said.

Ms Perks emphasised the pitches were about “so much more than ideas.

“It’s about building the entrepreneurial capacity in the Ballarat region which benefits us all.”