Youth Innovation Summit 2025: Year 10 students design solutions for real world challenges

On October 23rd, thirty Year 10 students from high schools across the New England North West gathered at UNE SMART Farm for the Youth Innovation Summit 2025, transforming from students into innovators, problem solvers, and entrepreneurs for a day. Working in teams, they tackled real-world challenges in agriculture, health, housing, and net zero/energy with remarkable energy, creativity, and purpose.

The UNE SMART Farm provided the ideal setting with open paddocks and fresh air all while being equipped with the technology and collaborative spaces needed to think, build, and create. More than just an event, the summit became an immersive experience where students discovered their capacity to address genuine challenges facing regional communities.

From fireside chats to innovation labs

The day opened with a fireside chat where students met with experts in agriculture, marketing, finance, and technology, along with regional founders who shared their entrepreneurial journeys. These conversations set the tone for the day that would unfold where ideas weren't just theoretical exercises but potential solutions to real problems.

Students then moved between indoor labs and outdoor zones, with ideas taking shape on whiteboards and conversations flowing naturally between spaces. The atmosphere was electric with possibility, underpinned by a genuine sense that "what we're working on matters." Mentors including Owen Smith, Sam from Optiweigh, Heidi McElnea from Inclusive Communications, and Sewa Emojong from Emojong Consultancy guided teams through the innovation process, helping them refine concepts, test assumptions, and prepare compelling pitches.

Solutions that address real needs

After a full day of collaboration and creativity, teams presented solutions that demonstrated sophisticated understanding of regional challenges:

• Katara Health – A digital women's health platform connecting young women with female clinicians, addressing the gap in accessible healthcare for rural communities.

• Path Academy – A parenting education and support platform for families of teens, recognising the unique pressures and limited resources available to regional families.

• Virtual Vet – AI-enabled virtual consultations to support livestock health and farmer wellbeing, tackling both agricultural productivity and mental health challenges.

• Pollitracker – An automated greenhouse pollination system designed to reduce manual labour and increase efficiency.

• Robotic pest-control – A solution featuring detection cameras and targeted spray mechanisms for precision agriculture.

• Instant soil-testing probe – Combined with an AI app for quick, in-field nutrient insights, enabling data-driven farming decisions.

• Hyperspectral imaging goggles – For early pest and disease detection in greenhouse crops, preventing crop loss through early intervention.

Celebrating innovation and achievement

The pitch competition showcased not just creative ideas but also the students' ability to communicate complex solutions with confidence and clarity. Judges including VC Professor Chris Moran, Chloe Spillane from Chloe Careers, and Sam Duncan from GXLab evaluated the presentations. Armidale Secondary College dominated the awards, with Path Academy taking the overall winner prize, Virtual Vet as runner-up, and Katara Health winning best pitch. Narrabri High School's Pollitracker earned recognition as the most innovative idea, demonstrating the distributed talent across the region.

The impact extends beyond the summit day, both Path Academy and Virtual Vet have now been given the opportunity to showcase their solutions to potential investors and the greater community, transforming a school project into a potential pathway to real-world implementation.

Looking forward

The Youth Innovation Summit 2025 reinforced what we see within the SRI community time and time again: the next generation of builders, innovators, creators, and business owners are already here in regional Australia. They're creative, curious, and infinitely capable of solving complex challenges when given the right environment, tools, and support.

This summit represents more than a single day of student achievement. It's part of our broader commitment to building innovation capacity in young people across the New England North West. By connecting students with real-world challenges, industry mentors, and practical innovation tools, we're cultivating not just future entrepreneurs but engaged citizens ready to shape their communities' futures.

As these students return to their schools and communities, they carry with them more than memories of a day at UNE SMART Farm. They take home the knowledge that their ideas matter, their voices deserve to be heard, and their capacity to create change is limited only by their imagination. For regional Australia's future, that's the most valuable outcome of all.