Students from four City of Moreton Bay high schools have been recognised at this year’s Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards, which challenge young people to solve real-world problems through new or creative uses of technology.
This year’s winner was The Lakes College Year 10 student Isla Baines, who took first place with her Basically Bovine Irrigation concept, an app and sensor system designed to improve water management for gardens, golf courses and farmland.
Isla said she took inspiration from her everyday life when developing her idea.
“I was inspired to create a water management system because of my upbringing on farms and agriculture and also because of the fact that I have seen lots of attempts at failed gardening,” Isla said.
“The app and sensors communicate through satellites so that you are able to access both essentially anywhere. It’s also better for farmers as there are often issues with WiFi and data in more rural areas.”
Isla said building the prototype and refining how to communicate the idea clearly were key challenges.
“That is something I worked on a lot during the mentoring sessions,” she said. “Eventually, I landed on creating the app and using a video in my slideshow.
“Winning was an incredible honour for me, as there were so many other ideas that were also innovative. I’m not sure what’s next for the idea, but I have considered starting my own backyard garden now!”
City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery congratulated the award winners and praised their creative approach to solving some of society’s most pressing problems.
“I’m thrilled to see our City’s best and brightest students once again rise to the challenge and deliver some innovative solutions across a range of problems affecting people on a local, national or international level,” he said.
Ideas That Solve Everyday Problems
Second place went to Southern Cross Catholic College’s Produce Paladins team, comprising Diaz Breen, Jake Nutley and Ronan O’Carroll, for its DigiFridge app, which helps reduce food waste by tracking expiry dates, suggesting recipes and comparing grocery prices.
Third place went to St Columban’s College’s Team Curiositree student Carys Leota for SolarSeat, a solar-powered public seating concept enabling device charging at bus stops.
Bray Park State High School students Hannah Lowe and Pia Flynn received the Emerging Entrepreneur Award for their AI learning assistant, Query.
Since 2023, more than 320 students have taken part in the MTIA program, including 130 in this year’s Big Ideas Challenge.
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