Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Over the last couple of weeks, the class has been busily preparing elements to ‘pitch’ their idea for a product or service. They have been considering their market and preparing promotional materials for a showcase evening which will take place on Thursday 14 June at 6:00pm in the Hallinan Library.

University of South Australia – Patent Lecture

Recently we visited the University of South Australia City West for a lecture by Dr Ping Xiong regarding patents. Dr Xiong outlined how a patent functions in both Australia and internationally, the process of applying for a patent, what it costs and how they are enforced. She explained the two different types of patents – Innovation and Standard, and had the boys thinking about how an idea can be patented with a provisional application with a 12-month period allowed until the complete application needs to be lodged.

Upon completion of the lecture, the boys were given a tour of some of the University facilities and we even saw a number of old scholars as we wandered the University Campus. Most of the tour concentrated on student services and the Business school. Thanks to Mrs Daniela Piteo who accompanied me to help supervise the class.

Guest Speakers

To increase students' knowledge of the economic climate of the Prospect area and to understand how the City of Prospect works to assist business, we were fortunate enough to have two guest speakers from the council. Mr Chris Hannaford, the Director of Business and Innovation and Ms Emma Grivell, a Project Support Officer outlined current planning and projects designed to attract business into the Prospect area. The boys were really interested to find out more about the economy of our local area and how technology is used to collect data regarding how many people are in the Prospect ‘high street’ zone. Using maps Chris and Emma explained the zoning of urban corridors along major roads to attract business and apartment development and showed the business hubs in Prospect with GigCity capacity of super fast wifi. The presentation also covered how the marketing associated with the ‘Prospect Rd’ precinct and how ‘Network Prospect’ provides services for local business and entrepreneurs.

Mrs Kathleen Johnson

SOCIOCULTURAL CURRICULUM LEADER