Innovation Nation Training Programme comes to a close
On 29th August, 2023, Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) in collaboration with Republic Bank Limited (RBL) under their Power to Make a Difference Programme, Bmobile and Atlantic LNG hosted the PowerUp! competition at the Centre for Enterprise Development, Freeport for students who were enrolled in this year’s Innovation Nation Training Programme.
There were two categories: Category 1, which was 10-12 years old and Category 2, for students 13 years and over. Each category had five finalists and the competition was intense. Participants were given the opportunity to present their research on a problem they identified in the environment that currently exists in the economy or the community they live in and find a solution to solve it using technology. Each student designed a solution to solve the problem that incorporated technology and created a digital video presentation of 5 minutes to submit for the chance to win. From the many submissions, only five finalists per category was chosen and they then had the opportunity to present their ideas to the judges for the chance to win great prizes.
The first place winner in the Category 1 was Lynn Clement whose idea was called FunOut which entailed a fun and interactive way of combating mental health issues and gave an entertaining demonstration of how her idea could be used to one’s boost mood and help those who may be struggling with their mental health for all age ranges. Second place in that category went to Siddiq Ameeral with Technology in the Community and third place was Kareem John with Recycle Centre and Bots.
In the Category 2, the first place winner was Johann Baynes displaying Project Nina. This one of its kind project showcased a different approach to capturing tourists’ attention via VR technology. He was able to showcase a Maracas beach setting so person’s abroad would get to experience Trinidad’s culture and feel led to visit. Second place in that category was Akeem Philbert Jr with Noise Cloud, followed by Destiny Louisy with People Who Know in third place. All students demonstrated knowledge, innovativeness and creativity in their presentations and they are all considered winners for all the hard work they did.
All of the finalists received Republic Bank accounts and bmobile also awarded the top three students in each category with free service. Judges in this year’s competition were Marsha Sanatan-Murray who is the Manager, Business Conversion at the Information Technology Consolidation Division at Republic Bank Ltd, Anjanie Ramesar-Soom, Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility Specialist, Corporate, Environmental, Social & Reputation Management at Bmobile, Sharon Ramdass, the Curriculum Officer Information Technology and Computer Science at the Ministry of Education and Hayden Charles, Programme Leader, ICT at CARIRI. Hosting the event was Laura Da’Breau and her co hosts Ozzy the Ocelot and Robbie the Robot, mascots of this year’s programme.
This is the third year that CARIRI is hosting the virtual Innovation Nation Training Programme reaching over 8,000 students to date. There were three tracks for students to choose from and these included Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) and Coding, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the newest addition, Climate Action. The students were able to explore these concepts and learn about Computer Science, Engineering, Innovation, Business Development and Climate Action/Sustainable Energy. Participants were able to educate themselves on these concepts from an industry standpoint to showcase and highlight the career paths which can be pursued.
