Ten teams made it to the finals, 70 of them applying for the biggest high school Start Me Up High school competition organized by the Association of High School Students in BiH and International Burch University.
During yesterday’s program, in order to present today the best possible final idea with constructive suggestions teams went from arena to arena and worked hard to advance the idea through key areas of idea presentation, finance, marketing, technology and human resources with the help of professors of International Burch University.
A three-member jury consisting of Vernisa Rejhan-Ićindić, Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in BiH, and member of the Board of Directors of the BH Futures Foundation, Igor Madžov associate at South Central Ventures, co-founder of Startup Macedonia, and Emir Adžović, a private sector analyst at UNDP, decided that the winners of the Start Me Up High school competition of 2020 is the HeatLine team.
“HeatLine” consists of high school students from Tuzla: Rijad Čudić from „Ismet Mujezinović“ High School and Ajdin Nukić from Electrotechnical School and Kenan Imamović from United World College in Mostar.
As an innovative solution, they have introduced a bag containing chemical substances, which, when combined with a small amount of water or even saliva, create a thermal reaction. This product quickly restores a person in a depressed state to a functional state. It would be ideal now for the cold problem that migrants are facing, but also for anyone exposed to low temperatures such as skiers, hikers, hunters.
The runner-up team is „Healthbyteˮ, formed by Hamza Makić and Nedim Karavdić from Richmond Park College in Sarajevo. Their idea solves the problem of people with disabilities who might not otherwise be able to use the computer, offering an infrared ray system that will allow the users to use the computer with accurate eye movements.
Third place went to the teams „Ideal Day“and „SBC“. “Ideal day” team consists of Amila Mujkić from Richmond Park International High School in Sarajevo, Amila Klepo from “Zijah Dizdarević” Secondary School from Fojnica and Dženana Selmović from “Meša Selimović” High School from Tuzla who presented an application that aims to better organize our time and make our day productive using psychological techniques and artificial intelligence.
The SCB team consists of Ammar Skopljak from Visoko High School, Ejub Šabić and Armin Omanović from “Hazim Šabanović” Mixed High School in Visoko, and Omar Konjičanin from Gymnasium in Ilijaš. Their idea offers security in smart homes with special circuit breakers that regulate power cuts by using app at any time.
As a reward, the winners won scholarships to study at International Burch University and to present the idea at UNDP’s SDG Business Week 2020. The winners were also given the opportunity to develop an idea in a university incubator at Burch University with the help of professors and experts from the business sector.
The Start Me Up High school competition, which lasted for 3 days, welcomed 65 high school students who came from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The aim of the competition was to encourage high school students to engage in entrepreneurship, to provide education and the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills through a series of different workshops, and to have the opportunity to compete and to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
The aim was also to develop awareness among young people that changes can be made in BiH and motivate them to stay in their country and be the initiators of change in BiH economy.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mersid Poturak, Rector of International Burch University, said that the University will continue to develop entrepreneurial spirit among young people, supporting them and providing an opportunity for young people to acquire concrete knowledge: “We are a socially responsible educational institution, we will continue with these and similar projects for high school and university students because our goal is to retain them in our country and jointly start the economy in BiH.ˮ
The organizers of the competition are the Association of High School Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Burch University, while partners are UNDP, BH Futures Foundation and the Bit Alliance.
