Innovation Award Winners ‘Lighting the Way to Parliament’

The spirit of innovation is strong at Mahurangi College, with two very different initiatives named winners of the Coresteel Buildings Innovation Award.

Julia Caulfield’s Youth Parliament @ Mahu event and Max Young’s Glove Torch each received $100 at the Mahurangi College prize giving last month.

“We established the Coresteel Buildings Innovation Award to encourage a sense of innovation in the next generation of students. Julia and Max both showed a passion for thinking outside the square and each developed a novel approach, with a successful outcome,” says Julie Boyd, Coresteel Buildings North Harbour.

Youth Parliament @ Mahu

Year 11 student, Julia Caulfield, was the driving force behind the new Youth Parliament @ Mahu event, held in August. The event was designed to increase student awareness of the election process, parliamentary processes and the role that Members of Parliament (MPs) play in the community.

Julia was inspired by the Youth Parliament initiative in Wellington and decided to create an event for Mahurangi College students.

Six MPs attended the event – one from each political party. The MPs took part in several debates with students and answered questions in an open forum.

Julia’s teachers say she showed excellent leadership, communication and collaboration skills and her persistence led to an event which was new to the school and unique in New Zealand. The event was also acknowledged in the New Zealand Parliament debating chamber.

The Torch Glove – a unique lighting innovation

Max Young received the innovation award for a unique lighting solution he designed in his Year 12 technology class. While others in the class created basic torches, Max thought outside the square, creating a Torch Glove, which provides a hands-free option.

Through weeks of research and planning he designed and created a prototype for a light-weight, waterproof, hardwearing, comfortable glove that has multiple lights and settings, and is rechargeable via a USB.

Coresteel innovation

Coresteel Buildings prides itself on being an innovative company which continues to push the boundaries in the advancement of steel technologies and software development.

The regional school-level Coresteel Buildings Innovation Awards are a nation-wide initiative, spearheaded by a tertiary-level Coresteel Buildings Innovation Award at the University of Waikato.