In October we announced our three semifinalists in our 2nd annual Young Innovators Challenge, presented in partnership with Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, the Florida High Tech Corridor, Scoutlier and AMRoC Fab Lab. Now it’s time to take a closer look at their innovative ideas and cheer them on the next stage of their journeys!
Community Waste Management
Community Waste Management is an app designed by students at Pinellas Park High School with the goal of reducing waste to decrease the amount of pollution on Earth and at the same time, come together and create a sense of community.
No Assembly Required
No Assembly Required is a small business idea developed by a Plant High School football player that solves 2 problems. 1. Helps busy families find available semi-skilled labor they can trust at a reasonable rate. 2 Creates a gig-economy opportunity for young athletes and student leaders that need a job to learn financial literacy and life skills but do not have time in their schedules.
M.O.S.E.S.
M.O.S.E.S. – (Motorized Off-Shore Environmental Sensor)– is an autonomous marine vessel developed by students at Cambridge Christian School that collects sensor data to correlate the presence of red tide and provide valuable marine data in real time.
Celebrating Young Innovators at IGNITE Launch
Our Young Innovators Challenge semifinalists were announced at AMRoC Fab Lab on October 27, during
the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame launch party for their new IGNITE initiative. The Launch Party took place as part of the AMRoC Open House during the annual Soaring City Innovation Gathering.
Participating Young Innovators had opportunities to speak with Dr. Sylvia Thomas of the University of South Florida Research and Innovation office, Florida High Tech Corridor CEO Paul Sohl, Shane Smith of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship and to meet George Wolf, who developed EntrepreneurShift, the youth entrepreneurship education program they’ll all be taking part in.
IGNITE, for which AMRoC Fab Lab is a program partner, builds on the idea of the Young Innovators
Challenge by connecting students with the world-class innovators in the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, and the larger innovation community throughout the Florida. Through hands-on activities, classes, innovation challenges, mentoring, and more, the program is designed to help young innovators IGNITE their own spark within. Our Young Innovators Challenge semifinalists will be among the first students to tap into that wealth of inspiring innovative thinkers and doers!
The Journey Continues
Now our semifinalists embark on a six-week Youth Entrepreneurship program called EntrepreneurShift, developed by George Wolf, of the University of South Florida. The program will help our semifinalists refine their business ideas into a business model canvass, understand their market, develop budgets and ready for their final pitches at our Florida State Fair STEAM Fest exhibit area in February, and vie for cash prizes and more.
Please join us in congratulating these great students and cheering them on to success as they learn to turn their great ideas into sustainable businesses!