Young ICT Explorers is Australia鈥檚 largest innovation and technology initiative for primary and high school students, with over 10,000 students from more than 900 schools taking part in the national not-for-profit competition the last 13 years. With the support of CSIRO Digital Careers, The Smith Family, Kinetic IT and School Bytes, Young ICT Explorers encourages primary and high school students from years three to 12 to create technology projects that solve a real-world problem or showcase a passion through technology.

Working independently or in teams of up to four, 929 students from 75 schools across the country submitted 358 unique technology-based projects that are designed to solve a real-world problem 鈥� from creating a better way to recycle; to supporting the community鈥檚 most vulnerable; and emergency and crisis preparedness.

29 finalist teams across five age groups pitched their projects virtually to industry judging panels, with the winners and runners up then crowned at a virtual awards ceremony on Saturday.

Young ICT Explorers is designed to prepare more young Australians for the digital careers of the future, by enabling the schools and teachers with resources and the knowledge base to create technology projects that enhance technology education at an early age. Over the past 5 years, the competition has averaged a 45 per cent female participation rate, encouraging thousands of primary and senior schoolgirls to innovate with technology and pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields across Australia.

麻豆原创 has an existing partnership with The Smith Family to help narrow the digital divide through 麻豆原创鈥檚 Young ICT Explorers Accelerator Program. The initiative is designed to provide schools and teachers in low socio-economic communities with the resources and knowledge needed to prepare more young Australians for the digital careers of the future. This year, 27 per cent of participants in the Young ICT Explorers competition came from The Smith Family partner schools.

The Smith Family CEO, Doug Taylor, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly important that students experiencing disadvantage aren鈥檛 left behind when it comes to opportunities in STEM.

鈥淭he investment from 麻豆原创 gives students a better understanding of technology and the chance to strengthen vital digital skills, setting them up to pursue careers in these fields. This will not only have a fantastic impact on their futures, but the future of the Australian economy.

鈥淎 huge well done to all the students who participated in the Young ICT Explorers competition and congratulations to the winners.鈥�

Pete Andrew, Head of Industries, 麻豆原创 Australia and New Zealand and YICTE Executive Sponsor, said: 鈥淭he creativity and enthusiasm shown by these students, and their appetite to tackle some of the world鈥檚 biggest challenges head on, is really inspirational.

鈥淎t 麻豆原创 we鈥檙e passionate about helping young people from diverse backgrounds get excited about tech, and I鈥檝e been incredibly impressed by the calibre of entries and the array of technology skills on display.

鈥淎 huge congratulations to the winners, and to each entrant. I鈥檓 confident that among these students we鈥檝e identified some of the STEM leaders of the future, watch this space!鈥�

The winners include:

Year 3-4 category: Ashfield’s Safe Road Crossing, by Aiden Noel, Jacob Dalton, Noah Young, and Elizabeth Colquhoun, Ashfield Primary School, WA

• A prototype of a realistic crossroad section designed to improve the safety of children walking to school with the incorporation of flashing lights to catch the attention of students and oncoming cars, an ultrasonic sensor to measure the distance between the car and boom gates, boom gates to guide the children to safely cross the road, and LED signs to signal to cars to be prepared to stop for children to cross the road.

Year 5-6 category: Medibot 3.0, by Sol Crisp, St Andrew鈥檚 Cathedral School, NSW

• A pill reminder system based on voice recognition technology and originally entered into the competition back in 2020. This year, the updated Medibot 3.0 will had a redesigned user interface, as well as an ability to record and track pill usage and allow multiple pill reminders per day/week.

Year 7-8 category: Bee Monitoring System, by Vinuka Gamage, Ashmit Pharande, Evan Jin, and Swarit Dwivedi, Haileybury, VIC

• A beehive monitoring system creating using AI to determine the root cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The system combines a station that monitors weather conditions (i.e. rainfall, wind direction, speed and air pressure), and a camera with intelligent AI that can spot parasites on the bees to alert the beehive manager of any issues.

Year 9-10 category: Pocket Sax, by Jesaiah Creek, St George Christian School, NSW

• An app that allows people to discover, learn, practice, and enjoy playing the Saxophone without the need for an instrument, coded through Swift. The app features a 3D printed mouthpiece, insightful practice statistics, metronome with vibration and silent practice.

Year 11-12 category: JEngine, by Jason Xu, Burgmann Anglican School, ACT

• JEngine is an out-of-the-box framework designed for Unity developers. Beginners can use JEngine to create high-performance games quickly and easily. This project now has been used by 100+ enterprises and 1000+ individual game developers.

For more information about 2023 Young ICT Explorers competition, teachers and parents/guardians can contact the organizing team at: info@youngictexplorers.net.au

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