Translated with DeepL
It was Friday afternoon, and the rooms of the change-minded movers and shakers at Intrinsic were still quiet. The introductory round among the mentees at the beginning emphasised how important family and friends are for them to be happy. The formation of five teams, each with one creative maker, one project manager and one HR manager per team, revitalised the atmosphere. As a team, the mentees began to ponder product ideas. The 17 sustainability goals for promoting peace and prosperity and protecting our planet served as a target.
I found realising the idea the biggest challenge. Our health assistant is now taking shape and we have determined the materials and parts.
Lia
I always knew what I wanted to do. As the sea is very important to me, I am concerned about plastic waste in the world's oceans. Our team is building a rubbish-cleaning ship made of wood and polystyrene.
Anouk
I have chosen to be the project manager and make sure that everyone in the team is busy and that our project takes shape. I like taking on responsibility, which I also do in my class as class representative.
AlineThe workshop on electronics provided an overview of possible electrical components, as the end product should contain at least one of them. The participants then drew, cut, sanded, programmed, drilled, sawed and soldered in order to design their creations. Towards the end of the day, the teams presented their first results: A fidget toy for stress relief - mainly for people on the autism spectrum; a plastic waste ship that cleans up the oceans; a shopbox for efficient shopping; a smart health assistant and a rubbish robot that cleans up streets and parks.
The next day, the mentees worked on their prototypes again to optimise them and make them functional. They then created a presentation to convince potential investors of their new product. In the afternoon, the mentors of the Swiss TecLadies mentoring programme had the pleasure of experiencing the young inventors' product presentations. They asked interested questions about the considerations, functionality and costs of the new product ideas.
The first MINTacherin workshop came to a successful and enjoyable conclusion with the workshop leaders praising the tenacity and creativity as well as the team spirit and motivation of all participants.
