Isaac John (left), Mitchell Rowley, Mysteri Goodman-Gardner, Sam Keane, Monique Treadwell, Braden Ash and Nathan Walsh, with their Cold Case for cellphones.
Isaac John (left), Mitchell Rowley, Mysteri Goodman-Gardner, Sam Keane, Monique Treadwell, Braden Ash and Nathan Walsh, with their Cold Case for cellphones.
If you need a reuseable stick to butter your toast, socks that don't smell or a cellphone charger in your shoe, Dannevirke High School students have designed it.
For the Year 12 students taking part in the annual MaiBiz business development programme, creating and marketing a product to meet the demands of their generation was the challenge set down by Maori Women's Development, which sponsors the event.
Judge Bill Taylor said the MaiBiz programme was a great initiative.
The Kineticharge team. (From back left) Shayne Clarke, Justyce Lilo, David Armata, Daniel Benbow, Xavier Withey, (front left) Amanda Steele and Shekhrinah Tohu.
"The continuation of this is fantastic and there will be kids who could be the entrepreneurs of the future. It's people who take the risks who will shape our future. If they get an idea and run it through, they could become the millionaires."
Winners of the competition were Corcra Delux who invented the Trackezy - a small, stick-on GPS which can be tracked by a website or app, helping lost items to be found easily.
"We're not a business, we're a movement," William Menzies said. "Other people had different ideas but this was the $1 million idea."
Team Corcra Delux who invented the Trackezy. (From back left) David Irwin, Shayla Treleaven, William Menzies, Emma Bakes, Kelly Wong, (front left) Emily Lewis, Callam Eggleton and Reuben Hautapu-Ball.
While judging, Mr Taylor offered advice to teams to help them connect with their market.
"You've got to create an impression. Go crazy. People want to touch and smell things.
"You've got to get people excited and instead of telling them why they should want your product, instead ask why haven't they got it."
Dannevirke High School teacher Dianne Sandbrook said the three-day MaiBiz programme was a fantastic opportunity.
"You see kids come out of their shell and it's life-changing. They have to work with people they wouldn't normally.
"This is a great opportunity for small-town kids to compete out of their comfort zone."
Team Silver Linings promised the end of smelly socks with Sockies, infused with scents including mint and citrus.
The Silver Linings team of Puke Ruaporo (from left) Matthew Te Huki, Rachel Aitau-Whyte, Eimhin O'Shea, Jessie Crisp, Katelyn Blake and Sam Jacobsen.
And for high school teacher Glenys Scott, MaiTee's reusable butter stick held possibilities for school camps.
Fellow teacher Shane Story thought the idea was worthy of marketing to Fonterra and judge James Kendrick agreed. "It saves a dirty knife and doesn't tear up your bread," he said.
For the Cold Case team, there was nothing historic about their invention - rather, a solution to a modern-day problem.
"It's a cellphone case which senses when the phone is overheating when charging," chief executive Isaac John said.
