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WHAT A GREAT YEAR

Thank you so much to all the schools both new and existing, our fabulous and inspiring girl inventors and their parents for your enthusiasm and passion. 

In 2017, our team has grown, we've expanded to working with over 150 schools, formed new and unusual partnerships (pivoting as its known in the startup world) and begun working internationally with partners in India, USA and Canada.

None of this would be possible without the shared purpose that so many of you have to help open up new opportunities for young women and shake up the status quo. Thank you also to our on-going partner support. Read on for more highlights...
3rd Annual Girls Invent Pitch Night 
Earlier this month, we held our 3rd annual pitch night at PwC in Southbank, Melbourne, in collaboration with Scale Investors. It was a great celebration! It was incredible to see so many young girls and their great ideas. Ideas and business such as a new Tennis scoring device, mental health app, Press Pack (hot and cold packs), Jump Start cord charging system, an app to help older people with their devices were showcased. Many of the girls have achieved great success and it was very rewarding to see the journey that they have been on. The girls that took part in the pitch night have successfully turned into young business women and have worked very hard at turning their ideas into businesses with the support of their teachers and parents.

A big thank you also to all those involved in the night, our panels of judges, Connie Kuhlman, Lauren Melton, Bill Bates, Brent Coker, parents and teachers who came along to support the girls, Scale Investors, Shelston IP and PwC.
1st Prize Winners - Score Buddy team from Camberwell Girls Grammar

Congratulations Girls Invent's Aditi and Xialene being profiled in

Teen inventors build a better bandage dispenser... Aditi Venkatesh and Xialene Chang will finish high school with high marks and a patent to their names....read more
No Skirting Around STEM Careers For Girls - Simone Cariss, Co-founder Girls Uniform Agenda

The career landscape for girls and women is changing. There’s a groundswell of support for girls to aspire to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) careers. That’s where the jobs of the future are forecast to be.
STEM careers are a big shift away from the pathways that girls have traditionally pursued. It’s not just a matter of telling girls to take up these careers and choose maths and science subjects at school. There is a huge amount of work required to smash through some of the rigid gender stereotypes that have existed for generations that have led to STEM careers being dominated by men. READ MORE...

 


Have you seen this?

The STARportal is an Australian Government initiative which is a centralised and national portal for engaging STEM activities for kids aged between Kindergarten and Year 12. It is run by an easy search engine that enables parents, students and teachers to connect. STARportal also keeps providers in mind as it allows opportunity to discover new partnerships and connect.  It is a great resource, dynamic, up to date and best of all it's free!  If you look closely you might even see Girls Invent!

STARportal website

 
Ideamedic

Mark Glazebrook, inventor and founder of Girls Invent was recently interviewed by Tara from Ideamedic. 

Ideamedic is a blog that has become a terrific resource for sharing thoughts on idea generation, creativity and idea development.

In the podcast Mark discussed 
How he invented the Doy dog treat toy
• The story behind Girls Invent
• The Girls Invent curriculum and vision for the future
• Mark’s advice for budding inventors
• How Mark helps individuals and companies live On Purpose

To catch Mark's podcast or any of Tara's other blogs check out the link here


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NEW GIRLS INVENT AMBASSADORS
THE SMART STRAWS TEAM



 

Meet Susana Cappello, Carolina Baigorri, and Victoria Roca.
 



They are three incredible young female entrepreneurs behind Smart Straws based in Florida. Smart Straws is a great invention that Susann, Carolina and Victoria created that can detect the presence of the common “date rape” drugs GHB and Ketamine in a drink. The three teenagers came up with the idea while taking a class in Entrepreneurship at their Miami high school earlier this year. All three women had either a family member or friend who had unfortunately been a victim of date rape and they personally wanted to do something about it. 

In May, Smart Straws competed against 300 other ideas in the Miami Herald's Business Plan Challenge, which invites entrepreneurs from across the city to submit ideas for products, apps, and companies to potential investors and they took out first prize! The girls have finalized their design and are in the process of discussions with a manufacturer. Hopefully it will be hitting the market soon and making a difference in lives all over the world. What a great idea that's now been turned into a business! 

Check out Smart Straws website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram

 
Want to kow?
Sponsor Spotlight
 
Who are Shelston IP?
Shelston IP is a long standing intellectual property firm operating in Australasia.

What services do you offer?
We provide a full range of intellectual property services to our clients. This includes trade mark, design and patent filing and prosecution, strategic advice in relation to IP capture, exploitation and portfolio management, IP dispute resolution and commercialisation services. Our partnership with GlassHouse Advisory also enables us to help clients fund their research and IP costs and monetise their invention further down the track.

Your moto is from 'mind to market'. If I was to come to you with an idea what process would we take?
Our goal is to assist you to protect your idea from unauthorised use and bring it to market. Usually this involves assessing whether registered protection such as a patent, registered design or trade mark (or more than one) is appropriate and what is the most effective and cost efficient strategy. We can also assist with clearance searches to determine if there are any prior third party rights that may hinder your exploitation of the invention. Different circumstances will also often require a different approach to commercialisation and this also affects the IP strategy – do you need to partner with another organisation? What distribution model will you use? Will you sell or licence to another party? Each case is different and we tailor our approach accordingly. 

What is your relationship with Girls Invent?
Shelston IP is proud to support Girls Invent by providing pro bono IP services and advice. We have developed IP materials to be used in the Girls Invent program and offer general advice and guidance on protection options as required, and are looking at other ways we can strengthen our relationship.

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?
Keep at it! Most entrepreneurs try many ideas before they find the one that works. One of our most exciting clients James Dyson made over 5000 prototypes over 15 years before launching his first commercial cyclonic vacuum cleaner the DC01! 

You have always been supportive of what we do at Girls Invent and became a sponsor. Why do you choose to support Girls Invent?
It’s important to us to give back to the communities in which we live and work, and Shelston IP is all about supporting innovation, so Girls Invent is a great fit for us. While at Shelston IP we have thirteen highly qualified female attorneys with science or engineering backgrounds, females are underrepresented in the inventor community, so it is great to be able to help address that imbalance by supporting this excellent program. We also like the fact that Girls Invent is not solely STEM focused and recognises that creativity in all areas can lead to business success – it is all about gaining the confidence to try. 

Where do you see the issues of girls engagement in STEM and gender equality in the work force in 10 years time?
There is no doubt that there is still a lot of work to be done before we will see gender equality in the work force and particularly in STEM. But hopefully, with programs like Girls Invent we get closer and closer every day.
KEEPING IN TOUCH....
 
Have you been to a Girls Invent workshop? Have you been a participant and continued to explore your passion afterwards? We would love to hear from you and what you have been working on and pursuing further. Drop us an email and let us know! 
Experiencing a Girls Invent workshop 
 
Zoe's Reflection
Elena's Reflection
Early in term 4, I was invited along to attend my first Girls Invent workshop at Our Lady's of Mercy Heidelberg. This workshop was the first in the series of six and was with a great bunch of year nine girls. To begin with, Mark introduced himself, his background and what he has achieved. I discovered that Mark has some interesting roles within the business world and has been an inventor. Mark explained that inventing does not always require you to create a product but does require you to have a great idea and passion as you will need to work hard! 

The girls then had the opportunity to learn about some female inventors and then start to become inventors and business women themselves! I walked around the room and listen to the brainstorming and got the opportunity to talk to the girls about their ideas. Their ideas were coming from a need, a want or an observation and ranged from fragrant socks to flavoured straws to weighted bracelets. The girls were just in the planning stage but they were all prepared to take risks and have a go. I look forward to following up with the girls and see where the girls take their ideas. Hopefully they will be very successful and able to turn their ideas into businesses. 

Hello everyone! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Elena Marcocci and I’m a recent addition to the Girls Invent team.  I’ve come on board from September this year.

My background is in business, having studied many years ago for an Accounting degree.  I have worked for many organizations over the years, mainly as a management accountant.  Most recently, actually, over the past 15 years, I have been running my own business in the window furnishings industry.  

Earlier this year I decided it was time for a change and returned to school to study for my Certificate IV in training and assessment as I have always had a dream to teach young adults.  Which brings me to Girls Invent!! 

 I was quite nervous at my first workshop in November. Speaking in front of a large crowd especially teenage girls was a little daunting, however Mark made it look so natural and I soon felt quite comfortable.

I have found the workshops to be really interesting and I am often amazed at what the girls will come up with.  I find that when you look at the workshop as a business venture rather than a school project, business thinking and initiative will follow.  Some amazing and innovative inventions are coming through!

I’d like to thank Mark for giving me a go at Girls Invent and look forward to meeting everyone and having a wonderful 2018.
A huge thank you to our sponsors and supporters who continue to help young women to be their best.
 
Want to become one of our sponsors? Contact Girls Invent at admin@girlsinvent.com.au to find out how you can help more girls to become the innovators of the future
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