Students win gong for innovation

Year 13 students Edward Sclater, Thomas Nicholson, Spencer Clayton-Greene and Jarrod Mealings designed the product ‘gudgeon guard’ – a device that fits over a gate gudgeon to help lift it off the ground.

“The gudgeon extension is good for farmers of dry stock and dairy who experience a lot of problems with gates that slump or scrape across the ground due to wear and tear,” says Nicholson.

“Rather than having to replace the entire gate system, these guards can be fitted over the top of each gudgeon to help lift the gate up and get it swinging properly again.”

The group of young innovators developed the product in one of their agribusiness classes at St Paul’s and have been exhibiting it in the Innovation Centre at Fieldays this week.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation spoke of the importance of innovations at Fieldays.

“One of the main reasons the New Zealand agricultural industry is so recognised and respected around the world is because of the innovations coming from awards like these.

“The people here today are shaping the future of farming and will be making major changes in the industry in another 12 months”, says Nation.

One other group of St Paul’s students were also entered in the Innovation Awards having developed a steel rig invention that easily marks out a fence post to show where wires should be stapled. 

The Agribusiness programme was pioneered by St Paul’s in collaboration with Dairy NZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and a number of key industry leaders. It is currently being rolled out progressively to schools throughout the country and provides students with the opportunity to learn more about the primary industries.

The prize for the Young Inventor of the Year award is $1000 cash, which the students plan to use towards developing their product further.