The Hunter Region's youngest - and brightest - business minds were recognised at an awards ceremony in Newcastle last week.
The 2024 Young Business Mind Awards, organised by Career Links, attracted a record number of entries from 13 schools across the region.
Secondary schools and under 25s competed across five categories. The winners are:
- Sustainability: Samuel Varughese and Levi Troyer, Hunter Christian School, with their project Second Chance Soil (repurposing and revitalising contaminated soil and turning it into community garden beds);
- Business Enterprise: Max and Matthew Sharpe, Edu Wiz (teaches students practical financial skills that aren't taught at school);
- Social Enterprise: Akash Enjeti, Merewether High School, with his project Chill Out (an app where you can interact with other users to teach mindfulness and essential coping mechanisms for students in stressful situations);
- Design Technology: Joshua Pidgeon, Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College, with his project Guardian ADS (addresses the problem of unexploded landmines); and
- Creative Industries: Coastal Currents team, Rutherford Technology High, who created a prototype for a sustainable and fibreglass-free surfboard.
The Creative Creators team from Shoal Bay Public School won the primary school sustainability category with their Native Australian Stingless Bee Hives school project, which aims to encourage schools to have their own beehives.
Rutherford Technology High teacher Jade Bassett won an award for her project, Women in STEM Industries Initiative, and an encouragement award was presented to Charles Cohen, of Newcastle Grammar School, who entered four different projects in the awards.
The Young Business Mind of the Year award went to James Chesterfield and Jed Pennington, of Belmont Christian College. Their project, Salare, addresses the cost-of-living crisis by providing an app to track grocery spending and use-by dates.
What began as a school project is already a business, with a website up and running and the app expected to be released in January.
Joshua Pidgeon was surprised - and thrilled - to have won an award in two consecutive years.
"It's such a different project I didn't expect to win again. I want to go into engineering, mechatronics or aerospace one day," he said.
Winner of the Teacher Innovation award, Jade Bassett, says her project was inspired by the young women 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," she said.
"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 10 weeks instead of attending sport. I'm so proud of my girls and how far they've come."
Career Links chief executive officer John Purcell said the awards helped to build confidence and inspire future career pathways.
"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," he said.
