St Philip's Christian College's Flynt Young (Year 12) took out the coveted Year 11 and 12 section of the Young ICT Explorers Competition and was selected to attend the National Computer Summer School at Sydney University. Flynt backed up that impressive performance to be placed third in the national competition staged last weekend.

A second Year 12 student, Lachlan Orton, was placed a highly credible third.

Flynt created an electronic compost management system (ECMS), which monitors and evaluates compost within it, said teacher Mrs Jodi Phipps.

"ECMS is an electronic composter which monitors and evaluates compost within it. Using a raspberry pi and load sensors, ECMS can weigh and graph the amount of compost within the bin over a short or long period of time.

"ECMS can also show generated amounts of gasses such as nitrogen being produced when waste product is being composted.

"The data is able to be viewed on any device and can be accessed without needing to be near the ECMS. There is also an option for users to get text messages when certain events happen such as a '10 per cent monthly increase in composting matter'.

"The main goal of the ECMS is to help people who are composting know their progress and waste, and to incentivise them to continue to do so to create a more sustainable environment.

Lachlan developed a project road runner - a car game created using the Unity 2019 game engine which has attempted to recreate the experience of the old Flash game 'Alias Runner'.

"The map and gameplay have much been inspired by this and recreated into a modern game. The game features the player being chased down by The Mafia, cars which are controlled by artificial intelligence. You must escape the city to get out of The Mafia's grasp.

"Be watchful over your car's health and fuel levels though, otherwise it may be the end," Mrs Phipps said.

Young ICT Explorers is a non-profit competition, created by SAP, supported by CSIRO Digital Careers and The Smith Family with the help of industry and university partners across Australia. It aims to encourage primary and high school students in years 3-12 in Australia and New Zealand to solve real-world problems or showcase their passions using technology.

"That could be anything from creating better ways to recycle, to supporting people with disability, from creating virtual reality worlds, to building entire operating systems and robots from the future. Students can use their imagination and their interest in the world around them to create projects, we want students excited about working with technology."

"The work we do is on a dedicated funding program, which enables disadvantaged youth to have equal access to participate and engage in the competition through our YICTE Accelerator program.

"Think of YICTE like a science fair, but for technology and innovation instead.

"Our goal is to inspire school students of all technical ability levels to use their creativity and innovation to gain a greater understanding of the diverse possibilities available to them through today's technology, encouraging students to consider future study and a career in tech, while solving real world problems with their choice of technology, with YICTE being the showcase event for students to attend each year."

Mrs Phipps added: "Our students have been greatly rewarded for their dedication and commitment with these amazing results. This is a wonderful accolade for both the students and their teacher," .

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