FOLLOWING the news back in July that students from the Glasshouse Christian College’s DeLorean Project had taken out the top gongs at the Sunshine Coast Telstra Innovation Awards, as well as the Emerging Entrepreneur Award, GC&M News was keen to find out more.
The school’s DeLorean Project project is compulsory for year 10 students and aims to develop 21st century skills by providing an opportunity to think, create and share.
DeLorean Project coordinator Tanya Cullen said students were encouraged to find a passion or problem, create a solution or something relating to their passion, and share this with others.
“To begin the program, our students are asked to consider what they are good at, what they love doing and what they think the world needs,” Tanya said.
“After workshopping and mind-mapping these ideas, students are then encouraged to refine their ideas supported by a team of facilitators. Wherever possible, students are encouraged to connect with the community and industry representatives and entrepreneurs who can offer expertise and further mentoring for students.”
The winning project was LEDPlates which team member Arno Mens said originated a year earlier when his older sisters had their L and P plates for driving. As the youngest family member, he always had to get out of the car, despite the weather, to put the L or the P plate on or off for his older siblings.
The idea behind LEDPlates was that they attached to a vehicle to provide an eye-catching way for learner drivers to display their L plates, with a compatible phone app to allow the display to change from Ls to Ps as required.
Ebony Quinlan, who won the Emerging Entrepreneur Award, said she dreams of being a cardiothoracic surgeon and helping the community. She said she developed the idea for Heart Attrack, a wearable ECG monitor for cardiovascular outpatients, to reassure and assist these patients after their medical procedures.
“Cardiac depression affects over 30% of all cardiac patients,” Ebony said. “This causes the patient to be anxious living life outside the hospital or independently because they are nervous that they will have another cardiac episode.
“Heart Attrack is a small transmitting device that can get the readings of the heart and transmit the data to Bluetooth devices like smartwatches and phones. If abnormalities are detected, notifications can also be sent to the closest ambulance station,” Ebony said.
Photo: Josiah, Charlie Bidgood and Arno Mens
