A Bendigo teenager hopes a new twist on do-it-yourself kits will win him and two teammates a trip to Silicon Valley.
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Year 10 Weeroona College student Jackson Landry is part of a team developing a low-cost box set of electronic parts for students and hobbyists.
“It’s a monthly subscription service. Each month people get new parts for a project like a blimp, a mini-PC or a remote control airplane,” he said.
Jackson and the rest of his team are taking part in the TiE Young Entrepreneurs competition, which teaches teenagers practical business skills and provides mentoring with industry leaders.
Nine Victorians aged 12 to 17-years-of-age are taking part in the program, developing ideas which will be pitched to industry leaders this weekend.
Teams will compete for an all-expenses-paid trip to Silicon Valley, visiting Google and other hi-tech companies.
Jackson’s team will be up against a team creating a virtual reality travel guide and another creating a ‘smart sticker’ which could be installed on window panes to measure light levels and temperature.
The sticker could then direct lighting and air-conditioning systems to adjust the levels accordingly in that part of the building, saving electricity costs and automatically regulating the internal climate.
Jackson was quietly confident about his team’s idea, saying it had a clear point of difference not only against the other teams, but other do-it-yourself products.
He said there where similar ideas on the market, but none had an educational focus.
“We’ll have three ways to put each piece together. Once for beginners, which has more steps. And sets for immediate and senior skill sets,” he said.
Jackson said the product could also be used by schools to teach students about electronics and programming.
And while Jackson was unsure whether he wanted to be an entrepreneur when he left school, the competition has made him think about his entrepreneurial heroes.
“Steve Jobs, because I like Apple, Bill Gates, because he’s good with computers, and Justine Ezarik, because she started her own business when she was young and is now an internet sensation.”
The final will take place in Melbourne this Saturday at Swinburne University.