Super students shine with innovative ideas

Published 19 June 2026

• Students from four City of Moreton Bay high schools have impressed judges with their innovative ideas at this year’s Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards.
• The Awards challenge local secondary school students to come up with an idea for a new technology or a fresh and creative use of an existing technology.
• All students who entered were praised for their innovative thinking and creative approach to solving everyday issues in society.

City of Moreton Bay’s next generation of bright sparks have wowed judges with a cavalcade of creative ideas at this year’s Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards.

The Lakes College Year 10 student Isla Baines clinched first place in the Awards, impressing judges with her ‘Basically Bovine Irrigation’ concept that uses an app and prototype water sensor to support monitoring and targeted watering of grounds such as gardens, golf courses and farmland.

Held biennially, the Awards challenge City of Moreton Bay secondary school students to come up with an idea for a new technology or a fresh and creative use of an existing technology.

City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery congratulated the award winners, praising their creative approach to solving some of society’s most pressing problems.

“I’m thrilled to see our City’s best and brightest students once again rise to the challenge and deliver some innovative solutions across a range of problems affecting people on a local, national or international level,” he said.

“Whether it was creating innovative apps to track water usage and fight food waste or harnessing the power of the sun to keep our devices charged up on the go, I’ve got no doubt the future of our City is in good hands with the likes of these STEM superstars who represent a new generation of young inventors.

“Their passion, enthusiasm and ability to think outside the box is exactly the kind of approach we will need as we transform into one of Australia’s fastest-growing innovation ecosystems with our knowledge-based economy.”

Second place in the Awards went to Southern Cross Catholic College’s ‘Produce Paladins’ team comprising Diaz Breen, Jake Nutley and Ronan O’Carroll, who impressed with their DigiFridge app idea to fight food waste by tracking expiry dates on food products, help generate recipes with existing products and track grocery prices at supermarkets.

‘Team Curiositree’, represented by St Columban’s College student Carys Leota, took out third place with SolarSeat, a solar charged addition to bus stop and public seats allowing individuals to charge their devices while waiting for public transport.

Year 9 Bray Park State High School students Hannah Lowe and Pia Flynn were another standout, taking the Emerging Entrepreneur Award with ‘Query’ - an AI assistant app that promotes critical thinking and learning, with accessibility features, gamified aspects and chat functionality.

Telstra Regional Manager for South East Queensland Matthew Thornton said he was delighted to partner with City of Moreton Bay to deliver the awards.

“The Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards is a fantastic program, particularly the chance for the winning teams to collaborate with industry mentors to grow and expand their creative concept or idea,” Mr Thornton said.

“By investing in the next generation and providing a platform for their talents to flourish, we are further solidifying City of Moreton Bay as a hub for ground-breaking ideas.

“It’s so impressive to see the calibre of ideas come to life on stage, and all of the finalist teams should feel incredibly proud of themselves.”

The winning entries will share in more than $12,000 worth of prizes, including JB Hi-Fi gift vouchers, with first place students awarded a tour of Telstra’s 5G Centre and a BOP Industries half day workshop, second place scoring a STEMPunks 1-day Innovation Program session and 3rd place winning a Future Anything Workshop.

Meanwhile, the Emerging Entrepreneur winner will receive two Future Anything 1:1 Online Mentoring Sessions.

“By identifying, encouraging and supporting emerging talent through competitions like this, we’re building our City’s innovation ecosystem from the ground up,” Mayor Flannery said.

“It also helps raise awareness of City of Moreton Bay's innovation talent as Council works to attract investment into the knowledge, innovation, and technology industry.”

Open to City of Moreton Bay high school students as individuals or teams from years 9 to 12, this year’s Awards saw 76 students across 34 teams submit their initial ideas prior to the end of Term 1 for phase one.

Successful entries then progressed to phase two of the competition, where 70 students from 31 teams workshopped their concepts with leading industry mentors throughout the early part of Term 2 before 10 finalists and the eventual winners were selected.

Since 2023, more than 320 students from local secondary schools have participated in the MTIA program, including 130 participants in this year’s inaugural Big Ideas Challenge for Moreton Bay.

The challenge day in March invited schools to engage in a design sprint process to create their innovative ideas and prepare them for a submission in the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards.