From Raw Idea to Real Product
The program runs through the second half of the year, structured so every team makes genuine progress, from the first spark of an idea to something they have actually built.
Students across CMR and Ekya assemble into small teams, ready to tackle problems they actually care about.
Teams choose a real problem and dig into it, talking to real users and mapping the market before they build a thing.
With coach support, teams build an actual working prototype. Not slide decks. Real, working things.
Teams pitch to a jury of industry leaders. The strongest ideas are recognised, backed and celebrated.
Built by Young Founders
Arduino smart sensor
This team looked outward, at a problem their whole city quietly lives with: streetlights left burning when no one needs them, and the energy wasted every single night. It is the kind of issue most people notice and forget. They decided to do something about it. Working with Arduino, they wired up a smart sensor on a breadboard, connecting the components themselves and building the physical mount and model by hand in the workshop. Their first attempt did not fully work, so they went back, figured out what was missing, and kept refining until it did. That persistence is the whole point. What they built is a genuine attempt at a smarter, more efficient way to light public spaces, designed by students who saw a civic problem and chose to engineer a solution rather than wait for someone else to.
3D-printed medication device
It started with something the team noticed close to home: older family members struggling with the small, everyday task of managing their medication. Instead of accepting it as just the way things are, they treated it as a problem worth solving. They sketched an idea by hand, turned that sketch into a precise CAD model on the computer, and sized it carefully to fit real use, not a rough guess. Then they brought it to life on a 3D printer in the maker space, watching a flat drawing become a physical object they could actually hold. Along the way they learned what every founder learns, that the first version is never the final one, and that designing for real people means testing, adjusting, and getting the details right. What they ended up with is not a classroom model. It is a real, functional device built to make a real person’s day a little easier.
3D-printed medication device
It started with something the team noticed close to home: older family members struggling with the small, everyday task of managing their medication. Instead of accepting it as just the way things are, they treated it as a problem worth solving. They sketched an idea by hand, turned that sketch into a precise CAD model on the computer, and sized it carefully to fit real use, not a rough guess. Then they brought it to life on a 3D printer in the maker space, watching a flat drawing become a physical object they could actually hold. Along the way they learned what every founder learns, that the first version is never the final one, and that designing for real people means testing, adjusting, and getting the details right. What they ended up with is not a classroom model. It is a real, functional device built to make a real person’s day a little easier.
Four Ways to Make a Difference
The program runs through the second half of the year, structured so every team makes genuine progress.
Stay with a few teams across the program, checking in regularly to help them think clearly, make decisions, and keep moving when things get hard. A great fit if you have built or run a business.
Work with teams on the product itself, from the first spark of an idea to a working prototype. Ideal if your background is in product, design, or engineering.
Help teams think through the business side: market, revenue, pricing, and growth. Perfect for sales, strategy, finance, or business development.
Come in at key evaluation points, hear pitches, ask the hard questions, and give an honest outside read on what is working and what is not.
From Our Community
I wish something like this existed when I was in school. I’m mentoring because I want these kids to start years ahead of where I did.
We’ve watched our students build through Makery and design challenges since 2013. This is the natural next step, and it’s going to be special.
I signed up as a jury member because I want to see what this generation builds when you actually hand them the tools.
