Young TNQ innovators combine sport and technology to win national award


Four savvy, young Cairns students with a love of sport and technology are taking on the big shots in the digital age and coming out on top.

Jessica May, 11, Cory Dent, 12, Elliot Bairstow, 12, and Hamish Howieson, 14, who attend St Augustine’s College, Smithfield State High School and St Andrews College, have just won a national iAward for their innovative PowerShot App.

The brainchild of Elliot, the app measures the speed of a hit, kick or throw and when on the market it will have a community leader board that will allow users to compare, like, and comment on various kicks.



The young innovators teamed up with coding partner Dr Jason Holdsworth to ensure all kicks are recorded accurately, so the app can track the progress of users and can be adapted to suit most ball games with the hope it will become a valuable tool for coaches and players.

And they are pretty please to be recognised for all their hard work.

"It's exciting because obviously we're children, and adults are winning the awards," Jessica told News Corp.

"For us to win the awards really means a lot."

They qualified to be in the running for the national award after winning the junior student category at the Queensland iAwards for technology innovators in June.

Hosted by the Australian Information Industry Association the awards aims to discover, recognise and reward technology innovations that are having a positive impact on the community.

The PowerShot app is currently going through the final testing stage before its planned release shortly through the Apple App store.

For more information on the PowerShot app, click here.