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Propeller design wins Mayor's Telstra Technology Award at Bond University

A new version of the propeller that turns the circular force of motors into a downward energy has taken out the major prize in this year's Mayor's Telstra Technology Award.

The 11 finalist teams presented their cutting edge ideas at a pitch presentation and judging event at Bond University last night, with the team from Southport State High School taking out first place.

Mayor Tom Tate congratulated the winning team, along with all finalists for their outstanding efforts.

"The quality of the ideas put forward this year was diverse and innovative - and a credit not just to the students but to their schools," he said.

Cr Tate said the quality of entries improved each year, making it tough to pick a winner.

"The best thing about many of the concepts presented is that they are totally applicable to real life," he said.

"They also showed there is a real hunger among our youth to pursue careers in technology and innovation, which is the future of our city."

Bond University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Tim Brailsford, said Bond's academics, Assistant Professor Baden U'ren and Assistant Professor James Birt, were impressed with the students they met and mentored throughout the competition.

"This year's entrants displayed a very high level of passion, enthusiasm and conviction and pitched their ideas intelligently and articulately, which was great to see," he said.

"They were also receptive to taking on board feedback to improve and evolve their ideas from initial concept, through to the final pitch, which is vital to their future success as entrepreneurs and innovators."

Sharon Hunneybell, cofounder of Startup Apprentice, said: "It has been great to see the climate for innovation and the interest in technology in Gold Coast schools increase in the three years we have been involved with the awards.

"The entrepreneurial spirit and technical concepts presented by the students tonight was exceptional - we congratulate the winner and all the teams who made it through to the finals," she said.

Second place was Varsity College (Keiluka) while third place went to Emmanuel College for its water unit.

The finalists included:

  • Emmanuel College - Purification Unit: A smart autonomous wireless sensor network that helps overcome the serious problem of dirty drinking water, especially in third world countries.
  • Hillcrest College - Flexi Energy: Combines functionality with innovation to create an item bringing clothing and energy production together in a new, exciting way.
  • Merrimac State High School - Portable Defibrillator: Revolutionary concept founded on existing technology with a key focus on the portability of what would normally be a bulky device.
  • Merrimac State High School - Bin Fun: Gaming machine which uses recyclables as tokens for games to play. The game mixes a passion for gaming while promoting recycling and waste management with the community.
  • Pacific Pines State High School - Safe-T-Keys: A small key casing with a fingerprint scanner and blood alcohol monitor for drivers of cars. Helps to combat drink driving.
  • Assisi Catholic College - Semper Vigilo: Camera placed in the entrance of school carparks which reads number plates and speed of cars. Provides a solution for various issues in schools, such as congestion, security and safety.
  • Saint Stephen's College - Safety First: An app to assist teenagers in communicating with their guardians to let them know they are okay while they are out.
  • Southport State High School - Toroidal Displacer: A new version of a propeller that turns the circular motion of motors into a parallel downward force. This technology solves planet earth's issue of land consumption and could potentially lead to flying cars, houses, farms and even cities.
  • The Southport School - Dietary and Diabetic App: App that scans food barcodes, which transports data to a diabetic person's insulin pump and automatically administers the correct level of medication.
  • Varsity College - Watch Out: Mobile phone app that sends a notification to a pedestrian who is walking 30 metres or less near a tram.
  • Varsity College - Keiluka: App to prevent common problems such as losing your keys, locking your keys in your car or leaving your car unlocked.
  • Varsity College - Study Locker: App that effectively closes and locks down certain user defined programs that would otherwise distract students during study time.

The prizes that were awarded to this year’s winners included:

  • First prize for the winning school: $5000 cash.
  • First prize for the winning team: Three Samsung Galaxy S7 4GX mobile phones and 3 × Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 speakers.
  • Second prize: Three iPad Air 2 4G 16GB.
  • Third prize: Three Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 2 speakers.
  • People's Choice Award: One Telstra Thanks® private screening at a Gold Class cinema with invited guests.

The award is proudly sponsored by Bond University, Telstra and Startup Apprentice.

For information visit www.cityofgoldcoast.com.au/techaward

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