For the fourth year in a row, Matthew Flinders Anglican College hosted the ‘Powered by Design: Innovation in Industry Symposium’ on Thursday, 31 July 2025. Held in Flinders' new Infinity Centre, the event connected 100 Senior School students with industry experts to gain insights into entrepreneurial success and diverse career pathways.
Mrs Natalle Sutton, the Head of Technologies in the Flinders Secondary School, said the immersive event was unique in Australia, with its aim to unite education and business to inspire Flinders students and engage them in real-world industry design challenges.
Held in the College’s new master-planned Infinity Centre, the Symposium has become a signature event in the school’s calendar as part of the Design and Technologies curriculum.
Mrs Sutton was named the 2025 Outstanding Business Woman of the Year at the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network Awards on 21 August, recognised for her innovative approach at the intersection of education and industry.
Watch the short video of the 2025 Powered By Design Symposium here:
The Flinders’ 2025 Powered by Design involved more than 70 Year 10 students and 30 students across Years 11 and 12.
Students were fascinated to hear the start-up stories and lessons behind successful Australian businesses and initiatives, including Knobby Underwear, STEM Punks, the Manufacturing Excellence Forum, WV Technologies, Versent and The Country Chef Bakery Co.
The event also presented real-world industry challenges and invited the students to engage in authentic problem-solving that mirrors future career contexts.
Each student group had just two hours to develop a prototype for a client and pitch it to a judging panel, requiring them to explore the full cycle and possibility of design thinking—from understanding their client and stakeholder needs, to ideating solutions, developing a prototype and discussing solutions with their client to formulate a pitch.
Mrs Sutton said, “Our Flinders Powered by Design is a powerful event, as it opens our students' minds to the possibilities of innovation-driven career pathways.
“Through real-world projects, our students engaged deeply with design thinking and applied critical thinking, creativity and innovation, all while demonstrating collaboration, communication and iterative solutions in response to real client briefs and constraints.
“This experiential approach helped our students build transferable skills, confidence and adaptability, enhancing their employability and readiness to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.
“The challenges were daunting for our students but they remained positive, bringing their energy, big ideas and creative thinking. It was wonderful to see their growing confidence in interacting with our mentors and working collaboratively to develop solutions.
“The judging panel congratulated the students for demonstrating such divergent thinking and professionalism through their pitching efforts.”
During the event, the real-world challenges included:
- Designing emergency glide wings for eVTOL (electronic vertical and take-off landing) aircraft
- Developing First Nations-led e-waste recycling platforms
- Creating sustainable food products
- Innovating Olympic team merchandise
- Innovating immersive retail experiences
- Coding smart textiles solutions for sport, health and safety.
Students collaborated on a range of projects to create prototypes, including:
- Food Product development solutions from food off-cuts in large-scale manufacturing
- A social media campaign to raise awareness for philanthropic business ventures
- User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) to create the booking system for the eVTOL (electronic vertical and take-off landing) taxi project on the Sunshine Coast
- SMART textiles technologies safety solutions for the mining industry
- Simple and effective sustainability education for communities
- Scientific development of high protein food products for local industry
- Graphic designs for the 2026 Australian Winter Olympics
- SMART textiles sporting solutions to monitor G-Force and reduce implications and incidence of concussion
- eVTOL take off and landing port design for the drone taxi project for the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.
The 2025 guest presenters and mentors included:
- Michael Holmstrom, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, STEM Punks
- Ash Rand, co-founder of Knobby Underwear
- Tim Kelly, director of the Manufacturing Excellence Forum
- David Hyde, Design Consultant, Versent
- Doreen Van Der Merwe, Senior Research and Development Specialist - Food Innovation & Quality Food Safety Leader, The Country Chef Bakery Co.
- Duncan Inkster, Chief Growth Officer, WV Technologies
- Kiara Van De Ree, Old Flinderian (Class of 2024)
College Principal Michelle Carroll said the 2025 Powered by Design: Innovation in Industry Symposium provided important real-world opportunities for students to research, engage with and drive innovative thinking.
“As part of our commitment to innovation, Matthew Flinders Anglican College was thrilled to host the fourth Powered By Design and welcome industry guests from across Queensland,” Ms Carroll said.
“Innovation is fundamental to ensuring Australia’s economy is both sustainable and competitive, and that drive for innovation is certainly reflected across much of what we do at Flinders,” she said.
“Innovation is embedded in the 6Cs that drive our College curriculum, as well as in significant investments, including our new master-planned Infinity Centre.
“This event provides our students with an exciting opportunity to engage with real-world industry design challenges to extend their problem-solving skills and critical thinking; skills that are valuable in every sphere of life, regardless of the pathways they choose to pursue.”
The event was held in the College’s new world-class Infinity Centre, which enables students from Years 7-12 students to become confident creators and problem-solvers, and to work flexibly across a range of disciplines, including Design and Technologies, Visual Art, Digital Technologies and Business.
Over three levels, the Infinity Centre features the latest technology and top quality resources, equipment and space to enable enquiry and ideation, collaboration, prototyping and testing, as well as presentation.
