Can entrepreneurship be instilled in young minds?

Coconut mosquito nets from 16-year-olds?

You probably haven’t heard of Coconet, enviroMark,  Jucolid or Lyobed, but you may in the future.

They’re all companies created by fledging minds in grades 10 to 12. Recently I had the privilege and honour of judging these and other companies in the Shad Valley Student entrepreneurship, science and technology competition at McMaster (www.shad.ca).

Shad Valley (colloquially known as Shad) is a Canadian summer enrichment program for high school students. The program was founded by Dr. Derek Lane-Smith, a teacher, physicist and entrepreneur. The first Shad Valley program ran at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario in 1981 and has since expanded to ten university campuses across Canada.

The Shad Valley program is run by Shad Valley International, a non-profit organization based in Waterloo, Ontario. Shad Valley International established this specialized leadership program for Canada’s top high school students in entrepreneurship, science and technology since 1981.  The 10,000 strong alumni represent a high-achieving community.  McMaster’s MacShad program has existed since 1998. MacShad’s major project is a business development project.  Students must design an innovative new product or service that addresses a theme.  They build a working prototype, craft a winning business plan and present their ideas to a panel of judges.  All in 3.5 weeks.  The winning business represents McMaster at the RBC National Shad Cup. MacShad last won the national title in 2002 and 2003.

This year they had to come up with a natural fibre product that can replace a current product in the market. The direction they were given was both simple and complex: “Create an idea with moral ‘fibre’ that has environmental and societal impact and makes a profit.”

Ideas ranged from a mosquito net made of coconut fibre to a coffee cup lid made of jute. All well thought-out great ideas with market and product strategy, business and financial models… Remember these are 16-year-old kids! I must say I was blown away by the creativity, ideas, professionalism and maturity of the students that participated in this year’s competition. As a mother of two and coming from the science and technology space I am happy such programs exist that help stimulate and shape young minds.

If you have kids close to this age group I urge you to check out this program — it will be an experience of a lifetime! And will aid in turning out the next generation of innovators.

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Tags: awards & competitions, entrepreneurship, youth