Global Ideas Institute / en High school students in World Vision Challenge get tips from 91勛圖 experts /news/high-school-students-world-vision-challenge-get-tips-u-t-experts <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">High school students in World Vision Challenge get tips from 91勛圖 experts</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Seau%20de%20L%27eau%20%28web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uCOtsB0_ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Seau%20de%20L%27eau%20%28web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_rW3OZ0l 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Seau%20de%20L%27eau%20%28web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=FYOBam6a 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Seau%20de%20L%27eau%20%28web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uCOtsB0_" alt="Picture of the Victoria Parks students and their device"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-05-30T12:18:30-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 12:18" class="datetime">Tue, 05/30/2017 - 12:18</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Victoria Park Collegiate students (from left): Purushoth Thavendran, Amy Huang, Hussein Hassanali, Aarthy Thamotharanathan, Vickkram Ramarethinam, Yao Yan Huang and Ulla Hagomer (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/geoffrey-vendeville" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Vendeville</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Geoffrey Vendeville</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/current-students" hreflang="en">Current Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/future-students" hreflang="en">Future Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/joseph-wong" hreflang="en">Joseph Wong</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global-ideas-institute" hreflang="en">Global Ideas Institute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">These Victoria Park Collegiate Institute students designed a generator attachment for a water carrier to harness electricity in the developing world</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Toronto high school students are trying to bring power to the people with a generator that fits onto a popular water-carrying device in the developing world.&nbsp;</p> <p>But first they must make their case before a panel of entrepreneurs, academics and investors in the finals of the <a href="http://challenge.worldvision.ca/en/challenge/">World Vision Social Innovation Challenge</a>. They are the only high school team left in the competition, which is open to university or college students and recent graduates.&nbsp;</p> <p>The winning team receives up to $50,000 technical support and advice to develop and test their product.&nbsp;</p> <p>With the big day now just weeks away, the seven students from Victoria Park Collegiate came to the 91勛圖 to prepare. They presented their device to a group of 91勛圖 experts and&nbsp;<strong>Simona Chiose</strong>, <em>The Globe and Mail</em>'s higher education reporter and a 91勛圖 alumna.</p> <p>The World Vision challenge this year stemmed from one of the United Nation's sustainable development goals: ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.</p> <p>The students' answer was to fasten a generator to a <a href="https://www.hipporoller.org/">Hippo Roller</a>, a water carrier made of a plastic barrel and handle, which rolls like a wheelbarrow.&nbsp;</p> <p>Their target market was&nbsp;Tanzania, where only 56 per cent of people had access to an improved&nbsp;water source such as piped water in 2015, <a href="http://databank.worldbank.org/data/Views/Reports/ReportWidgetCustom.aspx?Report_Name=CountryProfile&amp;Id=b450fd57&amp;tbar=y&amp;dd=y&amp;inf=n&amp;zm=n&amp;country=TZA">according to the World Bank</a>.</p> <p>Hussein Hassanali, one of the students, says he was a little nervous before presenting to the expert panel in the 91勛圖 Governing Council&nbsp;boardroom.&nbsp;It looked like Parliament,&nbsp;he said afterward.&nbsp;</p> <p>91勛圖 faculty, including assistant professor and associate director of the Centre for Global Engineering&nbsp;<strong>Amy Bilton </strong>and <strong>Anita McGahan</strong>, a professor of strategic management at the Rotman School &nbsp;of Management, cross-appointed to the Munk School of Global Affairs, quizzed the students on different aspects of their project and provided advice.</p> <p>Have they taken maintenance into account? Are the devices affordable for people in the developing world? Have they considered partnering with local community organizations to bring the cost down?&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="/news/joseph-wong-head-u-t-international-student-experience-portfolio"><strong>Joseph&nbsp;Wong</strong></a>, a professor of political science in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and associate vice-president and vice-provost, international student experience, said he was impressed with the students' idea.&nbsp;I hope that this kind of experience shows young people that they can have an impact&nbsp;&nbsp;that though they are young, their ideas are valuable, he said.</p> <p>The project grew out of the <a href="http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/gii/">Global Ideas Institute</a>, founded by Wong. The institute, at 91勛圖's Munk School of Global Affairs, provides high school students with research and learning opportunities.</p> <p>Victoria Park teacher, Katie Bremner, said&nbsp;it was an amazing day&nbsp;for her students.&nbsp;The team has worked really hard on their concept for nine months and to see it at this stage is such an accomplishment,&nbsp;she said.</p> <p><strong>Rosemary Evans</strong>, principal of 91勛圖 Schools, said she was happy to see a high school-university partnership reinforcing an international education.&nbsp;</p> <p>We ask ourselves, 'What is a global education?'&nbsp;she said. It's not just learning about something; it's about getting involved and understanding problems from multiple perspectives.</p> <p><em>On June 22, the team was awarded the Peoples Choice Prize of $20,000 for seed funding to prototype and test their social enterprise idea in partnership with World Vision Canada.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 30 May 2017 16:18:30 +0000 geoff.vendeville 107958 at