Background and Introduction
Since its inception, ASTI, the Association of Science, Technology and Innovation has been working towards inspiring the young generation of our nation to explore the world of science and innovation. We have many projects including Science Fair for Young Children (SFYC), Young Inventors Challenge (YIC), ASTI Leap Challenge (ALC), ASTI Feynman Challenge (AFC), and Young Inventors Journal (YIJ) during which students will design and come up various new inventions and innovations addressing core problems they are passionate about. We have been privileged to witness many creative and unique inventions throughout these years.
All our projects are designed as an educational tool where our participants learn from the tasks they undertake. Hence, for example in Young Inventors Challenge, our aim is not to develop inventions BUT to develop inventors.
However, we have noticed another important skill could be further developed in these students. We have realised that many of these creative ideas do not move past the conception, designing and prototype phase. Students do not possess the necessary entrepreneurial skills to turn their unique idea into a marketable venture. In Young Invention Challenge (YIC), the participants develop a solution based on an issue they have identified. We would now like the participants to develop the skills to bring these ideas to the market or in other words, the skill to convince people to use their new solutions – and to convince potential investors to back their ideas.
In order to do this, they would need to proceed to develop a business plan to commercialise their inventions. These are still uncharted waters for most of our participants. With the necessary guidance we feel we can help them develop entrepreneurial skills which we hope could contribute to developing their communities and nation.
Therefore, ASTI plans to conduct the Young Technopreneurs Challenge (YTC) in a two-phase for participating teams.
Phase 1 will include Promotion & Registration, a Training and Q&A Session, and the Business Plan Submission.
Phase 2 will involve Business Plan Shortlisting, a Half-Day Workshop, and an Online Pitching Session where participants will present their ideas.
The competition will culminate with the selection and awarding of winners.
The aims and objectives of the Young Technopreneurs Challenge (YTC) are:
- To raise students’ awareness of business and entrepreneurship.
- To enhance presentation skills and introduce them to “business pitching.”
- To familiarize students with key concepts such as financial planning, value propositions, and marketing strategies.
- To provide students with a hands-on experience of the business world.
Through their participation in YTC, students will also:
- Create an original invention and gain recognition for their contributions.
- Develop creative and innovative thinking abilities.
- Strengthen teamwork skills to collaboratively solve problems.
- Utilize resources like the internet, libraries, and expert consultations to sharpen their research skills.
- Build self-esteem and confidence.
- Gain experience in public presentation and professional business plan writing.
The target group and age category for the YTC are as follows:
- Category 1: Secondary school and Form 6 students aged 14-19 years old
- Category 2: College, University students or Adults aged 18-30 years old
- The category will be determined by the oldest person in the team
Each team is to be made up of 3-5 members
- Proposal and Funding
- A simple proposal will be prepared and send for seeking financial support.
- Promotional Materials Preparation
- A promotional material such as poster, video, social media posts will be prepared.
- Promotion and Registration
- Promotions will be conducted through newsletter, social media post, emails to past participants, word of mouth and few phone calls.
- Interested teams will be invited to register to take part in the programme.
- Training and Q & A Session
- During the training and Q & A session, the students will be trained to further develop their innovative designs into a business plan. They will also be instilled with important skills like identification of needs, basic financial planning, building an investor’s presentation, understanding value propositions, developing marketing and competitive strategic planning.
- The online training will contain the sessions on:
- Value Proposition & Competitive Analysis
- Designing a business proposal
- Financial Planning and Cash flow management
- Marketing Strategy
- Revenue Model and others
- Mentoring and Coaching
- Business Plan Submission
- After the training, the students’ teams need to prepare their business plan and must be sent to the organising team for review.
- Review and Shortlisting
- Panel of judges will review the business plan and shortlist best business plan for next stage which is the half day workshop and Online Pitching Session.
- Coaching/ Half Day Workshop
- Depending on the availability of volunteers, a separate coaching session/half day workshop maybe organised between teams and mentors identified by ASTI. This would probably be done online.
- Online Business Plan Pitching
- During the online business plan pitching session, the students will present their existing innovations or ideas. Here the student teams are required to present their business idea to the judges in not more than 7 minutes followed by a 13-minutes Q&A. The organiser will be very strict with the time. The competition will be judged by representatives from the industry identified by ASTI.
- Winners Announcement
- The top teams could then be awarded prizes based on the business pitch.
- Reporting and Accounting
- Project report with accounting will be prepared for submission to ASTI Committee.
ASTI believes that with the necessary guidance and confidence which YTC hopes to build, we can help these young people to be positive agents of change for themselves and their communities as well as the nation.
- In 2022, 15 teams participated, impressing the judges with their creative business ideas and presentations.
- In 2023, the competition saw an impressive increase in interest, with 225 teams registering. Of these, 116 Business Plan Reports were submitted, featuring a range of innovative ideas. Submissions included 94 reports in Category 1 (secondary school students aged 14-17) and 22 reports in Category 2 (young adults aged 18-30).
- In 2024, YTC continued its momentum, attracting 168 registered teams and receiving 106 Business Plan Reports. Category 1 saw 88 submissions, and Category 2 received 18.
- Moreover, the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia recognized YTC as a National Level Competition for 2023, followed by an International Level designation in 2024, reflecting its expanding participation from various countries.