CITEC encourages bright ideas

01 October 2004

A dynamic team of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) business students have, with the help of Young Achievement Australia (YAA) and CITEC, just announced the establishment of their very first company – YAQ.

YAQ is an official subsidiary of Young Achievement Australia – a business skills program designed to give ambitious tertiary and secondary school students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate their aptitude.

In the program, teams consisting of a handful of students are formed all over Australia. These teams form real companies and have only three months to produce, market and sell a product.

Aiming to assist the enhancement of young Queenslanders' future business skills, CITEC has been a major sponsor of YAA’s Queensland Business Skills Program since 1998. In 2004 our staff are mentoring the QUT students as they plan and build their bright idea.

YAQ has developed a new product unique to the Australian market. Glowmate is an all-purpose, glow-in-the-dark marker for residential, emergency, outdoor and accommodation needs.

The product is a small coin made from a special, glow-in-the-dark plastic that glows for more than eight hours after just 10 minutes of artificial or natural light exposure. The coin is backed by a non-marking, waterproof adhesive that can be stuck to pretty much anything.

Tania Moor, a Senior IT Consultant is one of the CITEC staff who attends weekly meetings with YAQ and responds to questions by email as and when the students need advice.  Tania explains that there is pressure is on the students to get their product up and running in an incredibly short time frame.

“What takes professional firms months to achieve, YAQ has to complete in a matter of weeks - and all on top of the students full-time university degrees and other employment commitments,“ said Tania.

Despite the somewhat daunting process and enormous workload, YAQ Company Secretary Andrew Williams says he’s ready to take on the challenge.

“YAA is like a three month crash course introduction into the ‘real world’,” Andrew said.

“Being a part of YAQ has taught me more business skills then I think I could ever learn at uni.

“Also, for me it's been great because it really exemplifies, though on a small scale, the complexity of working with such an array of people in all different environments.”

By participating in the program, and demonstrating their skills and knowledge in an exam and interview, the students are competing to be named the 2004 CITEC Business Person of the Year (there are awards for both secondary and tertiary categories).

The winners will be announced at the Queensland Awards Dinner in November and will subsequently travel to Sydney to compete for the National Award.

To learn more about the YAA program visit www.yaa.org.au

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