SAP’s Young ICT Explorers competition wins 2012 Australian Business Award for Community Contribution

SAP Australia announced today that it has won the 2012 Australian Business Award for Community Contribution. The award specifically recognises SAP’s Young ICT Explorers schools competition, initiated by SAP’s Research team in Australia to encourage innovation in students in the hopes they will consider ICT as a career option in future. Students compete in teams across four age groupings from Years 4-12.

"The innovation that Australia’s school students are capable of has left us feeling both very proud and extremely privileged to be engaging with such talented young people," said Karsten Schulz, head of SAP Research in the Asia Pacific region and founder of the competition. "These students demonstrate many of the creative and collaborative skills that we want to develop for our nation’s future workforce. We’re delighted that this program has been recognised by the Australian Business Awards," he said.

The Australian Business Award for Community Contribution recognises organisations which implement policies or execute projects that positively impact on the community and generate outcomes that have a long term benefit.

Ms Tara Johnston, Program Director, The Australian Business Awards, said: "These types of accolades don’t come easily – they are underpinned by vision and leadership, both of which require a clear dedication to research and development."

The Young ICT Explorers was first launched in Queensland in 2010 with 140 students from 20 schools. Launched in NSW this year, the event has grown to 328 students showcasing 150 projects, and attracting 45% female participation rate. The NSW judging event will be held on Saturday, 4 August 2012 at University of NSW, with the Queensland event to take place on Saturday, 11 August 2012 at University of Queensland.

Young ICT Explorers encourages students to develop technology projects and share their creative ideas in a structured environment, supported by their schools. This allows students and teachers to work together and align potential entries with the school curriculum, enabling students to apply what they’ve learnt in the classroom. Some of the projects entered in this year’s competition include:

• Windscreen charger – one of the teams has developed a windscreen MacBook Pro charger. The charger works through 3 solar panels attached at the back of the MacBook. Charging the computer fully takes about 3 hours.
• Floating house – a model of a house with buoyant foundations, which can be used in areas where flooding occurs. Foundations are reinforced concrete whose weight, together with that of the imposed loads, is approximately equal to the weight of the displaced soil and/or water.
• Open to reality - a program developed for people who have trouble reading normal text. The team has created signs that represent certain words – such as the word sun – and when holding the sign in front of a computer their programme turns that into a 3D image. The team is also turning this into an iPhone app, to help people with learning and reading problems.

Follow the Young ICT Explorers on Twitter: @youngICTExplore, Twitter hastag: #YICTE Join us on Facebook: YoungICTExplorers

For more information, press only:
Wendy Hill, SAP, 0478 301 641, wendy.hill@sap.com,