SAEC 2024, which saw participation from 33 student teams across prominent institutions in India, had students working in multidisciplinary teams to build tech-enabled solutions to solve real-world problems on one of the two themes – global net zero goals and artificial intelligence.
Each team created a three-minute video pitch, evaluated by a panel of SAEC award sponsors, with the help of assigned mentors from Australian academia and business, who guided them with their video pitches.
The five finalists, representing Manava Bharati India International School in New Delhi, won the first prize at a ceremony in New Delhi on May 31.
They each received a digital scholarship worth AUS$16,000 per student from Australia’s Blended Learning International to pursue a Diploma in Business.
This digital scholarship will help students gain credits at BLI’s partner universities in Australia, facilitating their path toward a degree in an Australian university.
The winning team’s project addressed themes related to global net zero goals, with their question focusing on how to use technology to conserve soil.
Runner-ups bagged scholarships and cash prizes.
First runner-up students from Birla Open Minds International School, Hyderabad received a $3,000 scholarship from Study NSW and a $180 gift card from Australia’s Macquarie University.
Meanwhile, second-runner-ups Swaraj India Public School, Kanpur, received a cash prize of $100 from Australia’s MyCareerMatch.
“At the Study Australia Entrepreneurial Challenge final gala event, we had incredible, engaged brilliant, bright minds with fabulous ideas that will really make a difference to the future of both Australia and India,” said Dr Monica Kennedy, senior trade and investment commissioner, Austrade, one of the panel judges.
“The pitches were incredibly polished with a professional approach to the development of the business model and sharp communication of what their product will do. The judges had an enormous amount of difficulty finding the winner because all the ideas and pitches were impressive,” she continued.
Austrade launched the first edition of SAEC in September 2022, where undergraduate students from the top 18 partner Indian universities participated in the challenge.
Despite reports of increasing study visa rejections, India remains the second-largest source country for international students in Australia.
Over 122,000 Indian students were pursuing education in Australia between January-September 2023.