Event description

Year 9-10 students will spend a day learning about a real-life global problem i.e. the Grand Challenge, and brainstorm, create a prototype and pitch their own solutions in a professional entrepreneurial way to their peers and STEM experts for a chance to win cash prizes.

Each participating school or individually participating student will be provided with a Grand Challenge Kit containing all relevant support materials and curriculum links and rubrics prior to the Challenge commencing.

The Grand Challenge is aligned to the Australian Curriculum, including the General Capabilities and Cross-Curricular Priorities. Students will need to be supervised online by a teacher or guardian.

Early bird pricing for this event is available until Friday, 26 February 2021. Available for school bookings or individual bookings. This is a collaboration between Future Anything, the University of Sydney and Breaking Good.

The Grand Challenge: Diegetic Prototyping

"As an entrepreneur, pitch your innovative solution to a real-life challenge using fictional technology as inspiration."

The popularity of science fiction is alive and well today - from intergalactic space exploration to time travel plot paradoxes to creepily intelligent artificial intelligence, the human race cannot get enough of sci-fi as a form of creative and thought-provoking entertainment.

However, history shows us that science fiction has not always remained imaginary. Sometimes, imaginary technology have inspired the creation of real-life technology that have had huge impacts on our everyday lives. The TV series Star Trek is accredited with inspiring the creation of mobile phones and 3D printers, while also "accurately predicting" the invention of a suite of other technologies such as tablet computers, smart computer interfaces, and portable memory devices.

Students will be tasked during this program to draw upon imaginary technology from science fiction as inspiration for new, real-life technologies that act as solutions to real-life challenges.

The Structure of the Day

Session 1: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Students will engage with our lead facilitators and expert speaker on unpacking and understanding the 'Grand Challenge'. From here, students will engage with design thinking methodology to rapidly prototype their own innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions that solve the 'Grand Challenge'.

Session 2: 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm

Teams work independently (under the supervision of their classroom teachers or guardians) to develop the business model for their idea, in addition to validating and testing their prototypes.

Session 3: 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm <Optional>

The final session of the day sees students re-engage with the Grand Challenge facilitators to step through guided feedback processes in addition to learning digging into Q & A that will set students up for success in submitting their winning ideas. Students then submit their idea for judging before the announcement of winners later in the week.

Who You'll Hear From

Expert Facilitator: Associate Professor Alice Motion

A/Prof Alice Motion is a chemist and science communicator based at The University of Sydney. Her research focuses on open science and Science Communication, Outreach, Participation, and Education (SCOPE). Finding ways to connect people with science and to make research more accessible is the overarching theme of Alice’s interdisciplinary research. Alice is the founder of the Breaking Good project – a citizen science project that aims to empower high school and undergraduate students to be active researchers in projects that will improve human health.

Lead Facilitator: Nicole Dyson

Nicole Dyson is a globally recognised expert and practitioner in project-based learning and student entrepreneurship and is the founder of Future Anything, an award-winning, curriculum-aligned entrepreneurship program for high school students. She is also the founder of YouthX, Australia’s first purpose-built Accelerator program for school-aged entrepreneurs.

Nicole is a contributor to the Foundation for Young Australian’s YLab program, has represented Australia as a delegate for the G20 Young Entrepreneur’s Alliance, held in Argentina in 2018, and was a finalist in the 2019 Business News Australia 'Young Entrepreneur Awards’.

 As a teacher in the USA, UK, and Australia as well as a Head of Department and Head of Year at some of Queensland’s top-performing public schools, Nicole has repeatedly led the design and implementation of whole-school changes to support future-ready learning.  Nicole passionately believes that youth-led ideas have the power to bend the future and work tirelessly to provide young people (and their educators) with the support, skills, and space they need to take their ideas out of the classroom and into the real world.

Lead Facilitator: Holly Kershaw

Holly Kershaw is an experienced science communicator and outreach program manager, who is passionate about effective science engagement. She currently manages public outreach for the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney and also runs a number of science events in a freelance capacity including The Innovation Games at Sydney Olympic Park and The Science Tent at Splendour in the Grass. Prior to this, she was Education Director at Fizzics Education, managing the operations of a team that delivered science programs to schools across Australia, and internationally through virtual visits, reaching over 350,000 students annually. Holly represented Australia as a delegate to US State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program, "Hidden No More: Advancement of Women in STEM" in 2018, and has been recognised with awards for both education and entrepreneurship. In her spare time, Holly is a licensee and producer of TEDxParramatta.