Enabling the innovation of the next generation
Five years of the Young Movers Competition, sponsored by Transnet, in partnership with the SABS Design Institute
Transnet not only funds JA programmes, both in school and out, but has also sponsored the Young Movers Competition for the past five years, from 2014 to 2018, in partnership with the SABS Design Institute.
Participants on JASA programmes at high schools around the country are eligible to enter, by submitting an innovative business solution. To assist students on Transnet-funded Entrepreneurship Academy Programmes to prepare for this competition, the SABS has offered two innovation sessions, as well as guidance to completing the competition application form, to some high schools.
The learners’ business ideas are chosen based on the level of innovation and market feasibility and up to 40 finalists are chosen to fly up to Pretoria to participate in a design boot camp.
Some topics that have been covered in the design clinic include:
- Research planning and design in entrepreneurship
- Leadership and pitching and presentation skills
- One-on-one mentoring sessions with SABS Design Institute industrial designers.
These sessions guide the learners to assess the practicalities and the technology needed to implement their ideas, which includes illustrating their ideas through sketching.
Then the contestants pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and the winners are chosen. Prizes have included tablets, filled with design apps, as well as the fantastic opportunity to work with the Design Institute to further research and develop the possibility and feasibility of their products.
To find out about the 2018 competition, click here and for the 2017 competition, click here. In 2016, the top three ideas included a money box that only opens once you’ve reached your saving goal, a device to convert your study notes into song lyrics and a shoe vacuum that cleans shoes inside and out.
Over the years, many participants have remarked that being on a JASA programme, and then being shortlisted to be a finalist in this competition, has been life-changing event, where they now see the world through entrepreneurial eyes.
Many of the participants have never travelled to Gauteng, been on a plane or stayed in a hotel, which adds to the excitement.
Every year finalists have impressed the judges by their ability to recognise needs in their communities and come up with creative solutions. The JASA programmes, and competition like these ,are vital ways of exposing students to new ways of thinking and providing them with a platform that allows them to explore their creativity and gain confidence in their ability to shape their own futures, irrespective of their socio-economic background. Clinton Mdluli explains what being on a JASA programme and participating in the Young Movers Competition has meant to him:
Transnet promotes innovation, industrial design and entrepreneurship with the Transnet Design and Innovation Research Centre at the SABS Design Institute. This facility supports entrepreneurs to research and develop innovative ideas and test their commercial viability and this is where the Young Movers Competition takes place.
The SABS Design Institute, funded by Transnet, also partnered with Investec to host the first rapid prototype accelerator programme.
Thank you to Transnet and the SABS for partnering with JASA to a culture of innovation, design thinking and creativity at schools.
To go to the Flickr album of the event, click on the image below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151469935@N03/albums/72157702184905345
