The Bright Ideas Challenge
Every year, NXplorers Philippines gives students the opportunity to showcase their brilliance and NXthinking skills through The Bright Ideas Challenge. Despite the challenges of connecting through the pandemic, the 2021 final took place in December, where the top five teams pitched their innovative solutions on the main stage.
Over 300 students from 14 high schools across the country participated in online workshops throughout the school year, where they learned to address pervasive challenges in industries such as wastewater treatment, energy consumption, and agri-business management.
These students conceptualised and developed their innovative projects using NX Tools on f systems thinking, scenario planning and the theory of change methodologies. Five projects were selected as finalists, giving students chance to refine their presentations with coaching from Shell volunteer mentors.
“Despite the current challenges in face-to-face interactions, classes, and learning, Pilipinas Shell remains committed to training the STEM students of today to become the innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. STEM is critical to improving the infrastructure and services of our society, and we need many talented, highly-skilled young professionals to excel in these areas,”says Pilipinas Shell Vice President for Corporate Relations Serge Bernal.
Five teams, five innovations
This year’s finalists developed innovative solutions to the real-world challenges facing their local communities. The awarding ceremony took place on 3rd December, crowning each of the below teams as the winners:
Grand Champion: Team Agriserve,Philippine Science High School Cagayan Valley Campus, who developed Smart Agri-Hub, a website and data server that can help the farmers of Cauayan City to improve their practices and other agricultural services.
1st Runner up: Team El Terratix, Philippine Science High School Cagayan Valley Campus, who conceptualised PagSOILbok, a cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly soil-testing machine that measures soil composition elements such as pH level, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and humidity.
2nd Runner up: Team Shellamat, Philippine Science High School Main Campus, who created Project Simoy, a self-powered utility model that collects, extracts, and converts carbon dioxide from the air.
3rd Runner up: Team Danum, Bansud National High School - Regional Science High School for MIMAROPA, who created The Danum (Data-driven Agrobot Nexus Utility Model), made to revolutionise conventional wastewater treatment and traditional crop watering.
4th Runner up: Team ACES, Ateneo De Naga University, who developed the “Aureus – Integrated Parasolar Generator", a device that functions as both an umbrella and a solar-powered electric generator.
You can watch the full video of the final showcase here.
