NZ Students Win Award for Creativity

NZ Students Win Award for Creativity

Students from 15 countries last night submitted business plans by video link to a panel of international judges based in Scotland in the fifth Global Enterprise Challenge.

Only two awards were made in the small hours of this morning. The overall winner was Wales. The Award for Creativity went to New Zealand.

Eighty senior secondary school students from Kerikeri to Invercargill assembled at Massey University in Albany on Sunday. The Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Helen Clark, launched the New Zealand challenge and warned that the competition would be tough and challenging. Among those present were the Mayor of North Shore City, George Wood, Chancellor of the University, Nigel Gould, and local business people.

The New Zealand students, who are all were directors of student companies in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme were up against England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Spain, Germany, Norway, and Russia in Europe, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore in Asia, the might of the United States of America, as well as South Africa and Australia.

The Enterprise New Zealand Trust organised the challenge. The Trust operates the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme in New Zealand along with other programmes of enterprise education and financial literacy in schools. Each year some 35,000 students participate in one of its programmes.

The 24 hour challenge issued by the international judges said,

“Climate change remains the most serious challenge facing our planet today, and although countries commit to abstract goals it is often city mayors who make a commitment to action”

Your challenge is to:

“Prepare an action plan for your city or municipality that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the economy over the next ten years”

New Zealand students were divided into 10 teams, and each team presented its plan to a panel of local judges, The Hon Lianne Dalziel, Pam Ford of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Paul Lockey, trustee of the Enterprise New Zealand Trust. The judges chose a team coached by Action International which developed a product called “Enviro exhaust” which cleans emissions from the exhaust pipes of cars. This team then went on to represent New Zealand and made their presentation to the international judges who were a NASA astronaut, a NASA scientist and an international business consultant.

The chief judge commented specifically on the creativity of the New Zealand challenge and the appropriateness of the device which they had designed as a way of cleaning our environment.

“For New Zealand students to compete in a global arena and more than hold their own should give us great confidence in our future generation” said Tony Caughey, Chairman of the Enterprise New Zealand Trust. “Given the time constraints and pressure, our students were outstanding”, he said.

The winning team was:

Carolyn Aldridge from Epsom Girls Grammar School

Ilya Chevyrev from Auckland International College

Jared Gravatt from Bream Bay College in Northland

Natalie Keane from Carmel College

Alex Marks from St Kentigern College

Sarah Poole form Sacred Heart Girls’ College in Taranaki

Steven Ruddell from Springbank School in Northland

Erin Telfer from Opotiki College.

The competition was made possible by the sponsorship of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Massey University, Enterprise North Shore and North Shore City. Ten local businesses were involved in mentoring the students, who were also assisted by tertiary students involved in the SIFE programme.

The Corporate Hosts were:

Action International

Actionmail

Ancare

Sony

CSL (NZ Ltd)

ecomgroup

BDO Spicers

Radius Health Group

Genesis Energy

Fonterra

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