26 October 2023
Students joined forces in a dynamic design sprint marked by innovation and excitement.
More than 30 students representing 9 secondary schools in Geelong formed small collaborative teams brimming with enthusiasm and eagerness to dive into the three-day event.
The first day started with groups visiting one of three industries – Barwon Water, Think Fencing and Conflux Technology (read more about the industries below)– to empathise with the industry’s problems and brainstorm ideas for the design challenge.
Groups demonstrated their understanding of industry challenges through empathetic pitches, offering inventive solutions for workplace safety, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. Their user-centered approach prioritised the industry needs, resulting in practical, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions.
“It definitely surpassed any of my expectations; what they came up with was absolutely amazing and well thought out” – Brooke Barr, Project Management at Barwon Water.
The Industry Design Sprint’s success at the Geelong Tech School underscores the significance of providing students with hands-on experiences and practical skills for the workforce. Such events empower students to leverage emerging technologies, applying their creativity and problem-solving abilities to contribute positively to society.
Each of the student’s pitches were recorded and you can view them by clicking the button below.
Pitch Videos
We’d like to congratulate all the students involved for their creative solutions, willingness to get involved, and the courage to present their ideas in front of a crowd and special guests.
Think Fencing
Think Fencing is leading in upcycling plastic waste into clever products that offer advantages over traditional materials such as timber. With a huge amount of feedstock plastic the challenge is to efficiently sort, clean and process this to make great products. Students learnt about material properties and how their ideas make a direct difference to our local environment through less landfill and waste.
Barwon Water
Barwon Water has begun a new initiative that will transform organic waste to biochar through pyrolysis. Biochar has a variety of uses – even as a sustainable resource in batteries. Students were challenged to create efficiencies in the supply chain to Barwon Water by proposing material sorting initiatives. This project gave them an insight into how they can help our local area move to a more circular economy.
Conflux Technology
Conflux Technology’s global customers get the technical advantages of additive manufactured heat exchangers. These heat exchangers are unique designs leveraging the freedom that additive Manufacturing provides. Compared to a conventional water charged air cooler for instance, Conflux’s product reduces metal use by 39% and reduces both water and air side pressure drops adding efficiency. Students were challenged to improve metal powder density with the aim of boosting Conflux’s 3D metal production.
