Raffles Business Symposium 2023

 Since its launch in 2014, the Raffles Business Symposium has been designed to serve as a greenhouse for budding youth entrepreneurs from ages 15-19. Through the symposium and competition segments, we hope to enable our budding entrepreneurs to:

• Celebrate those who have been entrepreneurially daring
  
• Harness the lessons learnt by existing entrepreneurs
  
• Have opportunities to voice out questions and receive advice from entrepreneurs who are well-versed with current market demands
  
• Foster the spirit of collaboration and the sharing of knowledge
  
• Present business ideas to gather constructive feedback for further improvement and possibly, implementation in the future
  

The theme for Raffles Business Symposium 2023 is: Food Innovation. With rapid advances in technology, producers today are constantly looking for ways to maximise their resources, optimise processes and ensure sustainable supply chains - a lesson learnt for many as a result of Covid-19. As we slowly but steadily emerge from the pandemic and look towards the future, how might we innovate within the food industry, so as to ensure a sustainable yet plentiful food supply to feed a growing global population? 

For the competition segment, the winning teams will receive the following cash prizes:

• 1st prize: $400
  
• 2nd prize: $200
  
• 3rd prize: $100
  

 

In the preliminary stage, students will create and submit a written report not exceeding 1500 words, and a 2-3 minute video pitching their product by 14th June 2023.

 

In the finals stage, the top 5 teams from the preliminary round will then proceed to the final round on 18th August 2023, Friday, 3.00pm-6.30pm at Raffles Institution. There, teams will be given the opportunity to present their ideas in a physical symposium. During the Finals, invited speakers such as industrial experts and leading entrepreneurs will also be sharing their valuable insights around the theme of Food Innovation. 

 

These are the important dates:

 

• Competition Registration Deadline: 5 May 2023
  
• Registration will open soon, and the sign-up link will be sent in a follow-up email.
  
• Do register in teams of 4-5 students. 
  
• Submission for Preliminary Round of Competition Segment: 14 June 2023, 2359
  
• Release of Preliminary Round results (via email) of Competition Segment: 12 July 2023
  
• Final Round of RBS 2021: 18 August 2023, 1500-1830
  

 

More details will be given by the organisers, including the rubrics for the competition and a reading package based on our theme - Food Innovation - at a later date, once registered. 

Please form a group of 3-4 and contact Ms Choo and Mr Ng at choo_mui_luan@sst.edu.sg and ng_jun_wei@sst.edu.sg by 20 Apr 2023 to indicate your interest. 

Thank you.

Young Technopreneur Challenge 2023

The Young Technopreneur Challenge, sponsored by HP Inc. and supported by South West Community Development Council (CDC), aims to support students to take ownership of the world they live in and actively develop solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Singapore Green Plan 2030 and Sustainable South West Masterplan.

 

The challenge consists of 3 boot camps where students will develop their ideas, go through a rigorous design thinking process, research and prototype, as well as learn about the steps to becoming a technopreneur.

 

Student participation criteria:

1. Secondary 2 & 3
2. Except for the STEM bootcamp, all bootcamps and the Innovation Expo & Presentation will be held physically in person.
3. Permission from parents is required to participate.  Students & Parents need to sign a permission & media release form.  This includes WhatsApp chat groups to be formed by the teams with their mentors, teacher and JA staffs for communication purposes.
4. Bootcamp attendance, online self-paced courses, bootcamp feedback, Skilio self-reflection, mid-project submissions and introduction videos are all mandatory.  These are all part of the final scoring criteria for the competition.
5. Students who had participated in previous Young Technopreneur Challenge are not qualified to participate again.

 

 

Phases of the Competition:

1. Sustainability Plans – Select a problem related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals or Singapore Green Plan 2030 or Sustainable South West Masterplan.

 

2.  Innovative Idea – In teams of 4 students, think of an idea to solve the problem.  The solution will utilize STEM to make the world a better place.

 

3.  Registration –  For your registration, you must indicate your choice of the problem related to the Sustainability Plans that your team has chosen to address. (You don’t need to identify the specific issue yet.)

 

4. Online Courses – To increase the students’ communication skills and basic finance knowledge, 2 mandatory online self-paced courses (Business Communications and Basics of Finance) are required to be taken by the students.

 

4. Bootcamps - To enhance the learning experience for the Young Technopreneur Challenge, 2 bootcamps (design thinking, and pitching & presentation) will be required for all participants. STEM related (App writing) will be an optional bootcamp.  The bootcamps will be conducted physically in person except for the App writing which will be online.

 

5.  Innovation Expo & Presentation –  All the teams will showcase their innovative ideas at the Innovation Expo & Presentation. Top 8 teams will be selected to advance to the final round of the competition to be held in the afternoon. 

Dates (2023)	Activity
Mon 15th May	Team registration deadline
By Thurs 1st June	Complete online course Business Communications (Mandatory)
Thurs 1st June, 9am – 4pm	Bootcamp 1 – Design Thinking (Mandatory in Person)
Fri 5th June (9am – 12pm)	Bootcamp 2 – STEM Skill – App Writing (Optional via Zoom)
By Wed 14th June	Complete online course Basics of Finance (Mandatory)
Fri 23rd June (9am – 12pm)	Bootcamp 3 – Pitching & Presentation Workshop, Mid submission and Feedback from Mentors (Mandatory in Person)
Sat 8th July (9am – 6pm)	Innovative Idea Expo and Presentation (Preliminary & Grand Finals) (Mandatory in Person)

Form groups of 4 from Sec 2/3 and submit the your choice of the problem related to the Sustainability Plans that your team has chosen to address. Please ensure that you are able to commit to the mandatory bootcamps on 1st and 23 Jun before you indicate your interest to me. There are very limited slots available and selection will be made for the final registration of the teams by SST. 

 

Email us (choo_mui_luan@sst.edu.sg & ng_jun_wei@sst.edu.sg ) the following by 27 Mar 2023 to indicate your interest:

 

- 4 x Full names of group members and their class

- choice of the problem related to the Sustainability Plans that your team has chosen to address