Career Links, the organization behind the Young Business Mind Awards (YBMA), is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 awards. On Tuesday evening 12 November, around 200 students, teachers, parents, sponsors, and innovation industry representatives converged on the I2N Hub at Honeysuckle to network, celebrate and engage with the Hunter’s youngest business minds.
The YBMA has enjoyed a record number of entries this year with 45 entries, representing 13 schools from across the region and around 150 students and teachers. To win, students and teachers entered a video pitch outlining their big idea which was then judged by sponsors and business representatives.
The categories and winners were:
• Secondary and Under 25s competed across five categories.
- Sustainability winner was Samuel Varughese and Levi Troyer from Hunter Christian School with their project Second Chance Soil – repurposing and revitalising contaminated soil and turning it into community garden beds.
- Business Enterprise winner was Max and Matthew Sharpe who were individual entrants featuring their business Edu Wiz which teaches students practical financial skills that aren’t taught at school.
- Social Enterprise winner was Akash Enjeti from Merewether High School with his project Chill Out which is an app where you can interact with other users to teach mindfulness and essential coping mechanisms for students in stressful situations in life such as exams.
- Design & Technology winner was Joshua Pidgeon from Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College with his project Guardian ADS which addresses the problem of unexploded landmines of which there are as many as 110,000,000.
- Creative Industries winner was the Coastal Currents team from Rutherford Technology High who created a prototype for a sustainable and fiberglass free surf board that would cause no damage to our waterways and environment.
• Primary students competed in a Sustainability category and the winner was the Creative Creators team from Shoal Bay Public School with their Native Australian Stingless Bee Hives school project which aims to encourage schools to have their own beehives in order to increase their population after the recent varroa mite infestation.
• Teachers were also recognized for innovation in the classroom and the winner was Jade Bassett from Rutherford Technology High with her project Women in STEM Industries Initiative which aims to capacity build STEM skills and career pathways for young women.
This year there was an encouragement award presented to Charles Cohen of Newcastle Grammar School. He had entered four different projects in the awards and the judges wanted to recognize his enthusiasm.
The Young Business Mind of the Year award went to James Chesterfield and Jed Pennington of Belmont Christian College with their project Salare which addresses the cost-of-living crisis by providing an app to track grocery spending and use-by dates, and even suggests recipes to reduce household waste.
The boys were quick to point out that what began as a school project is already a business with a website up and running and the app in development which they are hoping to release in January 2025. You can follow the business on Instagram at @salare_official.
Joshua Pidgeon, who won the Design & Technology category was one of last year’s winners and couldn’t believe that he won a second time. “It’s such a different project I didn’t expect to win again. I want to go into engineering, mechatronics or aerospace one day.”
Winner of the Teacher Innovation award, Jade Bassett, is most proud of ‘her girls’, the young women that she trains in STEM. “I started this initiative because I asked the girls in my class what they wanted to be when they left school. Their answers were mostly limited to teaching and nursing. I wanted to prove to them that girls could do so much more. With a supportive school principal we were able to visit 16 industries in ten weeks instead of attending sport. I’m so proud of my girls and how far they’ve come,” said Jade.
The MC and speaker of the night was Ryan Muir, himself a young successful entrepreneur, one of last year’s YBMA participants and CEO of RAM Manufacturing. He spoke on Risk Taking and Courage in Entrepreneurship. Sponsors presented the awards to the successful students and teachers while proud parents watched on. Sponsors included AGL as Gold Sponsor, Hunter Water, University of Newcastle – I2N, Spectrum Comms, Intouch Magazine and Hunter IF (the organization behind the Hunter Innovation Festival).
“As we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, cultivating innovation and entrepreneurship in young people is a way to shape our future and drive positive change that helps our young people to thrive,” said Career Links CEO, John Purcell. “The Career Links YBMA helps to build confidence and inspire future career pathways.”
