Mary Kay declares Top 3 World Series Of Innovation Challenge Winners

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) -- Mary Kay Inc has announced the top three winners of its third annual World Series of Innovation (WSI) challenge in partnership with Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a global educational non-profit focused on bringing the power of entrepreneurship to low-income communities.

Angel Gear, which developed a business that purchases broken fishing nets and other gear and repurposes them into reusable nets, won first place. It was developed by Ryan Zhang and Jia-Teng Lu from Kang Chiao International School in Taiwan.

In contrast, the team that came in second, Saving the Superstars of the Global Ecosystem, utilises unmanned surface water drones in combination with satellite-based remote sensing systems to locate and identify algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay. It was developed by Emily Carver from Douglas S. Freeman High School in Virginia.

The third place winner, Reversify, designed a sustainable washing machine that repurposes rainwater and filters harmful pollutants in wastewater, which was developed by Iyshly Chen, Davina Liang and Kelly Luo from Abraham Lincoln High School in California.

According to a statement, this global competition encourages youth ages 13-24 to utilise critical thinking skills to help solve the world’s greatest challenges on a local, domestic, or international scale, as part of the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Mary Kay Chief Operating Officer, Deborah Gibbins said: “Posing the challenges of the world’s marine ecosystems to the next generation brings a fresh perspective on problem-solving, and no solution is too small.

“Students looked at all angles of the issue, proposing innovative, sustainable and impactful ways to address water conservation everywhere from their own homes, all the way to tackling the vast ocean.”

Mary Kay’s WSI challenge kicked off Sept 15 in conjunction with World Clean Up Day and encouraged young entrepreneurs to submit innovative solutions to address UN SDG 14: Life Below Water.

Specifically, students were asked to design a solution to further the conservation and/or protection of the world’s marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

--BERNAMA