Orbispace Initiative Pitch for the Planet
On Wednesday 18 September, 14 Year 8 students represented the College in The Orbispace Initiative Pitch for the Planet. The Orbispace Initiative is a program with the mission to inspire the next generation of Australian female innovators by equipping them with the skills and mindsets needed to succeed in a rapidly changing physical and digital landscape. The program is a six month course teaching students about innovation, technical STEM skills, entrepreneurship, soft skill development such as teamwork, confidence and communication skills alongside hard skills relating to innovation, prototype development and creating a business model. As an opportunity to apply their learning, students were then provided with a real world sustainability case study to pitch a sustainable innovation that will encourage Australians to electrify their transportation.
As part of their innovation, students needed to consider key sustainability concepts including environmental and ecological determinants. They then were required to evaluate existing market solutions and constraints before developing their own innovative solution to the problem.
We had two teams of Year 8 students presenting at The Pitch for the Planet. Marion Choi, Cielo Collaguazo, Ava Crowley-Sweet, Olivia Miks, Aaliyah Reddy, Gabriella Saliba and Lucy Yoegiar were the founders of ‘StellaCharge’ focusing on the problem that the distance electric vehicles can travel is significantly less than petrol cars. Their solution is to develop portable solar-powered charging packs.
Maria Katsaros, Ella Rentzepis, Isabella Saoud, Jacinta Shori, Sophie Steel, Elena Vidanovski and Eden Vonhoff were the founders of ‘WattWay’ focusing on the problem of inefficient and inaccessible charging processes associated with electric vehicles. Their solution is wireless charging stations situated across parking spots, garages and red lights.
In their pitch, students had eight minutes to share their problem, market research, solution, product ideation/prototype, market size and business or impact model. Teams pitched their ideas to judges and investors who followed their pitch with 2 minutes of questions where students continued to convince the judges to invest in their innovation solution and team.
Congratulations to all students involved in the program. Both teams did a phenomenal job with their pitch, with one of our teams, WattWay, winning first prize for the 2024 Pitch for the Planet competition! A huge congratulations to WattWay.
Click here to view the Daily Telegraph’s article on St Ursula’s winning team.
Kaitlyn McDougall
Newman Teacher In Charge
