This year’s edition of The Next Bright Idea, a business pitch and design competition being held by the Enderun Colleges, recently culminated in an awarding ceremony last June 7, with students from Life Academy International and Colegio San Agustin Makati winning the grand prizes.
The “Skimplast” project from Life Academy International clinched the grand champion title in the Business Pitch Challenge. Their revolutionary idea not only demonstrated impressive entrepreneurial skills but also exhibited a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
Skimplast’s groundbreaking concept promises to make a significant contribution to reducing plastic waste, and its well-executed presentation left the judges thoroughly impressed.
“Getting exposed to actual professionals from the master class and panel of judges helped in giving perspective on how the real world works and the systems that make a business thrive. I appreciate how they treated us at the same level as young professionals and not like students, telling us the hard truths while also giving us the opportunity to network and learn from them,” says Santiago Carlos Villongco, one of the team members.
Claiming the first runner-up and second runner-up spots were remarkable entries from La Salle Green Hills for the business concepts “CooCoos” and “Learnify,” respectively.
Meanwhile, the grand champion of the Design Competition was Alexandra Ish Deunida from Colegio San Agustin Makati. Her outstanding design exemplified creativity, sophistication, and a keen understanding of user needs. It also showcased exceptional craftsmanship and an ability to push the boundaries of conventional design.
“A Next Bright Idea champion is someone who could take in the criticism even if they did a good output, then they should know that even what they did there, they can do better than that. They can strive way more upwards. I joined the Next Bright Idea because for competitions for designing, it’s barely there. I just want to make some kind of difference, and I want to prove to my parents that I can do it,” she shared.
Claiming the first runner-up spot was Patricia Megan Villa-Real from Life Academy International; while the second runner-up position was awarded to Abigail Ebreo from Lorma Colleges Senior High School.
Reflecting on the journey of the competition, Lou Molina, the creator of The Next Bright Idea, expressed her admiration for the young participants and their ambitious ideas.
The competition has been a springboard for a wide range of memorable projects, such as packaging materials made of water hyacinth, a home treadmill to generate electricity, a car toilet, a mobile restaurant bus, tracking devices to locate missing items, and even whiteboard markers made from car emissions.
“More than a decade ago, we created The Next Bright Idea with a vision — to empower high school students to be interested in business even before they enter college through a platform to showcase their ideas,” Ms. Molina shared.
