Young Entrepeneurs Win Boeing Innovation Competition

Huge congratulations to our Senior School Voorschoten Young Enterprise team, who won the Boeing Innovation Camp competition at Boeing Headquarters in Amsterdam on Friday 24 November!

The team, comprised of seven Year 10 students, were challenged to invent an innovative product to improve the Boeing flying experience. The students came up with a product, the ‘Comfy-Umfy Chair’ and presented a pitch for their idea.

Anne-Marie Smith, Young Enterprise Coordinator, commented:

Our team really impressed the Boeing staff with their heated seat innovation, activated by a QR code, so if you see these on Boeing planes in the future, our students were behind the idea!

I'd like to say a big thanks to our business advisor Hein Trimbos for his expert advice.

Thank you also to Mr Valot for accompanying us at the event."

(When asked if the judging panel had any questions about their product, one of the judges replied, “Yes, a really important one - when can you give it to me?”)

Young Enterprise team member Lucrezia on the experience:

"On 24 November, the school’s Young Enterprise team went to Amsterdam to participate in the Boeing event. This event involved experts in engineering, marketing, finance, and communications to fly into the Netherlands from different Boeing offices across the whole of Europe! The school travelled to Amsterdam by train and met at the Boeing office with another school and all of these aircraft experts. They then welcomed us and taught us about Boeing through a presentation. Then, they explained our task for the day.

The staff were very welcoming whilst they divided us into groups and assigned us a trustworthy mentor. Each group had to complete the task, which was to create and pitch a product for Boeing which would increase customer satisfaction. In response to this task, our team came up with a new and cosy invention, the ‘Comfy-Umfy Chair’. This chair was designed to have a built-in heating system containing foam that would mould to your body’s shape and could be accessed through the use of a QR code.

The judges were very pleased with this product and declared that it was something innovative which had never been done before, therefore they chose us as the winners of the competition and let us walk home with the prize, a collectible toy aeroplane.

We are incredibly proud of ourselves and felt honoured to be invited to the Boeing Innovation Camp. It was an unforgettable experience, and we are incredibly thankful to the organisers of the event for making this happen.

We look forward to continuing to hone our presentation skills in the future and will continue to strive to do our best to become a successful and renewed company."

Watch a video impression of the day below:

What is Young Enterprise?

Young Enterprise, or Jong Ondernemen as it is known in the Netherlands, aims to teach young people all about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, allowing them to utilise and practise skills essential to running a business. This includes developing an effective business plan, conducting market research, promoting their product idea and financial literacy. Students each fulfil a different role within their team, such as secretary, Head of Design or Chief Financial Officer. Through Young Enterprise, students gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges that running a business can present, and it is excellent preparation for future entrepreneurship!

Well done to the Young Enterprise team, and thank you to Anne-Marie Smith for coaching the students throughout!