IBM EdTech Youth Challenge

We are delighted to announce the winners of this year's IBM EdTech Youth Challenge! The task of these school students was to solve a real-world problem using AI or machine learning. We had over 70 schools register for the challenge this year, and they have done a brilliant job.

Congratulations to our winners and all students involved in the challenge!

Ponds Pride from The Ponds High School, led by their teacher Stella Ding

This project aimed to solve a health challenge, in this instance, minimising the spread of Covid-19 and ensuring that community members are following Covid-19 restrictions, specifically within the supermarket. This was their design solution:

“Our solution is to create an automated safety guideline checker that minimises human interaction and contact while still doing the job. Everyone knows the automatic gates that customers go through prior to entering a shop. The design of our solution was made to replicate the gates outside the shops whilst also useful for our product. So when the customer walks into the store, they stop at an indicated point in front of the gate after scanning the qr code. Then they follow the quick instructions on the screen and they have to position their phone and face in front of the camera. The screen in our design will show a template and camera feed as a guide to make it quicker. The machine will check if the person is wearing a mask and if the QR code is verified. If the customer is detected to wear the mask correctly and the code is verified, Then, the customer will be allowed to enter the store. If the camera detects the customer to be wearing the mask incorrectly, covering their face purposely, or not wearing a mask at all, then the customer will be notified and they will be required to try again. Our device doesn’t violate anyone’s privacy as all the data from the camera feed is processed, makes a prediction, gives an output and it doesn’t store data."

‘Smart Grotto’ from Pymble Ladies College, led by their teacher Mr Le Bescont

This project aimed to solve an Environment issue, in this instance, sorting out recyclable items using AI. This was their design solution:

“The best AI solution for our users is two smart sensors attached to shopping centre bins that work in conjunction to improve waste management and recycling systems in shopping centres. Sensor A sorts rubbish into one of the following five categories, according to the different compartments in the bin: recyclable items, non-recyclable items, polystyrene, Styrofoam and coffee cups. If it detects an item going into the wrong bin, it sends a message to a mechanism in the bin that puts the item into the correct compartment. Sensor B will collect data about four types of rubbish going into shopping centre bins: food waste, illicit items, recyclable rubbish and non-recyclable rubbish. A device measures the amount of each type of rubbish and logs the data onto an app that shoppers and shop owners can access. The app will generate a monthly report detailing trends in the data and suggest strategies to optimise waste management and sustainability in shopping centres. We will use Teachable Machine as the AI training model for our sensors."

IBM Edtech Youth Challenge winning teams

Stage 4

1. Ponds Pride, The Ponds High – An automated safety guideline checker that helps minimise human interactions during Covid-19 outbreaks.
2. Food to taste, not to waste, Salesian College - A solution that aims to assist the consumer in changing their behaviour on food waste
3. Detecting Frog calls in the Manningham area, East Doncaster Secondary College – An environmental solution to train AI to detect different species of frogs through their calls.

Stage 5

1. Smart Grotto, Ladies Pymble College – A solution that helps shopping centres decipher which items of rubbish can be recycled.
2. Covid-19 Lockdown Sentiment Analysis Tool, Saint Augustine’s College – A solution that uses AI to scan a large amount of twitter messages to link possible super spreader events and to stop them.
3. Re-Tech, Keysborough Secondary College – This project aims to help consumers dispose of their technology e-waste in a safe and sustainable way.

The AM is delighted to be partnering with IBM and Macquarie University to launch the IBM EdTech Youth Challenge, opening 2 March 2021.

This challenge is an applied learning experience for students to understand and identify issues around environmental sustainability, health concerns and disaster resilience and how artificial intelligence (AI) technology and design thinking methods can be used to tackle these problems.

The competition is open to high schools nationwide. Teachers with teams of students in Years 7 to 10 are invited to enter compelling projects where technology, with a focus on AI and machine learning, is applied to help solve existing or imminent problems facing society. A panel of judges will review submitted Project Logbooks and the team's video pitch identifying their project issue and proposed AI solution, with prizes awarded to the most compelling entries from teams in Stages 4 and 5.

Read below for more information on the IBM EdTech Youth Challenge competition dates, judging criteria and links to the AI Education for Teachers course and AI Foundations for students, which are available now.

Teachers can register now their interest in participating in the challenge and review the Project Guide and Project Logbook information and explore the challenge theme page links below. The challenge theme resources have been provided to inspire ideas and guide your student team project to explore, design and build an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to help make positive changes in your local community and beyond.

Explore resources on the challenge theme pages below to inspire your project focus for the IBM EdTech Youth Challenge.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a mystery and a wonder. It can help us solve humanity's most difficult problems but is often misunderstood. The free AI Education for Teachers course presented by Macquarie University and IBM, bridges the gap between commonly held beliefs about AI, and what it really is.

AI is the ability for a computer program or machine to think and learn. AI involves self-learning systems that use data mining, pattern recognition and natural language processing to simulate the way the human brain works. ^[1]

Machine learning is a field within AI where training data is used to build increasingly accurate models to make decisions or predictions based on algorithms.

A machine learning algorithm can for example distinguish between different species of moths. This decision process is called a classification and is based on which features or values are classified (eg. wingspan and mass).

We use machine learning systems everyday and it is all around us including spam filters, chatbots, search engines, recommendation engines etc. The IBM EdTech Youth Challenge invites student teams to use creative and critical thinking to brainstorm a machine learning solution to address a local problem, that fits within the challenge themes.

Data is the foundation of AI and machine learning. Data science helps us extract knowledge and insights from data through the process of using algorithms.

The process begins by gathering data from relevant sources, cleaning it and arranging it into formats that machines can understand.

You can use tools like IBM Watson Studio and AutoAI to prepare your data and build models for the IBM EdTech Youth Challenge. You can also ask expert researchers within the challenge themes questions about the data they need and use in the research field, and apply this to your project submission.

Design thinking is an approach to problem solving that aims to improve people's experiences. Good design is everywhere, just think of your favourite video game, smart phone or a sleek car. Design thinking is simply the process of how to arrive at a good design for a new product or service - one which best meets the needs of your user.

Design thinking is a 'learn by doing' process that adopts a deep understanding of the user and their problems in order to find solutions to the right problem. ^[2] Each phase of the process is cyclical and iterative rather than linear. You may have to repeat a certain exercise in a particular phase multiple times as your ideas and understanding evolve. This process of iterative design allows you to create and test ideas quickly and puts the user experience at the centre to improve the outcome. ^[3]

Watch this short 'Experiences and Design Thinking' video to learn more about the design thinking approach.