Since its inception, ASTI, Association of Science, Technology and Innovation has been working towards inspiring the young generation of our nation to explore the world of science and innovation. We have many projects including Science Fair for Young Children (SFYC), Young Inventors Challenge (YIC), ASTI Leap Challenge (ALC), ASTI Feynman Challenge (AFC), and Young Inventors Journal (YIJ) during which students will design and come up various new inventions and innovations addressing core problems they are passionate about. We have been privileged to witness many creative and unique inventions throughout these years.
All our projects are designed as an educational tool where our participants learn from the tasks they undertake. Hence, for example in Young Inventors Challenge, our aim is not to develop inventions BUT to develop inventors.
However, we have noticed another important skill could be further developed in these students. We have realised that many of these creative ideas do not move past the conception, designing and prototype phase. Students do not possess the necessary entrepreneurial skills to turn their unique idea into a marketable venture. In Young Invention Challenge (YIC), the participants develop a solution based on an issue they have identified. We would now like the participants to develop the skills to bring these ideas to the market or in other words, the skill to convince people to use their new solutions – and to convince potential investors to back their ideas.
In order to do this, they would need to proceed to develop a business plan to commercialise their inventions. These are still uncharted waters for most of our participants. With the necessary guidance we feel we can help them develop entrepreneurial skills which we hope could contribute to developing their communities and nation.
Therefore, we launched Young Technopreneurs Challenge (YTC) for our participants which consisting of 2 phases. Phase 1 comprises of Promotion & Registration, Training and Q&A Session, Business Plan Submission whereas Phase 2 comprises of Business Plan Shortlisting, Half Day Workshop, Online Pitching Session. The winners will be determined and awarded.
Objective
The objectives of the YTC are:
- To create an awareness among students about business and entrepreneurship.
- To improve presentation skills and introduce “business pitching”
- To introduce concepts like financial planning, value proposition and marketing planning to students.
- To give student a real feel of the business world.
Target Group
The target group and age category for the YTC are as follows:
- Category 1: Secondary school and Form 6 students aged 14-19 years old
- Category 2: College, University students or Adults aged 18-30 years old
- The category will be determined by the oldest person in the team
- Each team is to be made up of 3-5 members
