An all-women student team from Palawan took home the top prize of the recently-concluded innovative educational program Shell NXplorers: The Bright Ideas Challenge.
Team FarmHer Innovators’ project gained the top spot among students across the country with its groundbreaking Veggie Crate Tracker that measures the weight and freshness of produce and the Mark-It App that notifies the market vendors about the description of the harvests and tracks the surplus and shortage in each cluster.
The revolutionary concept of the student team aims to address three problems of our country in terms of agriculture—surplus, shortage, and supply of produce.
“Our project aims to solve three problems that we have identified through our ocular surveys and observations in our community,” said Anna Leonora Rodriguez, a member of Team FarmHer Innovators.
Among the panel of judges who selected this year’s winner were Business Advisor for the Office of the Country Chair of Shell companies in the Philippines, Paulo Gavino; Sustainability Manager for Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Stanley Siahetiong; Senior Education Program Specialist of the Department of Education (DepEd), Eliza Peralta; Program Director of the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev), Zen Dimalanta; and the Senior Science Research Specialist of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Engr. Marvin Dela Cruz.
“To our participants today, you are this country’s next generation of scientists and engineers. Equipping yourselves with strength in these subjects is tantamount to possessing the power to change the world,” said Serge Bernal, Vice President for Corporate Relations of Shell Pilipinas Corporation.
“I look to you to use that strength to become changemakers that help the Philippines and the world forward,” he added.
Team FarmHer Innovators won P100,000 while their school also received P50,000 for the improvement of the institution’s STEM program.
The other winning teams include Bohol’s Team Maomag and Cagayan de Oro’s Team Portabio.
Team Maomag’s Project Sawod-Lawod converts seawater into drinking water through a solar-and-wind-powered desalination technique. This prototype incorporates rotating mesh panels inside the container to increase the rate of condensation from the water vapor, providing the residents of Batasan Island with clean, safe drinking water.
Meanwhile, Team Portabio aims to provide renewable energy on the go. Through their project, wasted food is utilized to become the energy source for portable power banks.
Since 2019, Shell Philippines has been conducting the Shell NXplorers to serve as a platform for young and talented innovators to showcase and propose their innovative ideas that can help solve the country’s issues.
To learn more about these young innovators, visit htttps://www.shell.com.ph/energy-and-innovation/make-the-future/what-is-nxplorers.html.
