The Singapore Deep-Tech Alliance (SDTA) has launched a new Youth Chapter aimed at nurturing the next generation of innovators, marking a significant milestone at this year’s Sustainable Innovation Asia 2025 (SIA2025). Held as part of Singapore’s SG60 celebrations, the event put young Singaporeans at the forefront of deep-tech and sustainability discussions, highlighting the need for more inclusive participation in the country’s innovation economy.
Backed by Enterprise Singapore’s SWITCH initiative, Go Green SG, and the SG Youth Plan by MCCY, the Youth Chapter offers free lifetime membership to students from Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), including ITE, polytechnics, and universities. The programme provides mentorship opportunities, overseas expeditions, innovation training, and potential pathways to venture acceleration — all designed to give young people a meaningful head start.
Focusing on inclusive innovation
For the first time, SIA2025 dedicated a full programme segment to youth-led innovation, marking a shift towards engaging younger generations in Singapore’s long-term progress. SDTA’s Founding Partner Clara Chen emphasised the need to broaden access to innovation, stating, “Innovation has been too exclusive for too long. We need to open the gates — not lower the bar, but change where the starting line begins.”
The Youth Chapter aims to empower individuals regardless of their background or academic track. Chen explained that the initiative was created so that “someone like a 17-year-old from ITE, who’s never walked into a lab or written a pitch deck, can still feel like they have a place — and more importantly, a future — in innovation.”
To reinforce this vision, the launch featured a standout prototype developed by Team MFL from ITE College Central. Their invention, BINNY — a bunny-shaped recycling machine for kindergartens — accepts recyclable materials and rewards children with snacks. The project uses positive reinforcement to build sustainable habits from an early age and serves as a concrete example of youth-led innovation in action.
Grassroots innovation led by students
Team MFL, led by 17-year-old Nur Nelly Naomi, consists of five students from the Higher Nitec in Event Management programme. Despite having no prior experience in sustainability or engineering, the team built a functional prototype in just one week with support from volunteer mentors. Their project was part of the SG Eco Loop pilot, backed by the Eco Fund under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, and the Oscar Fund by Temasek Foundation.
Nelly led the team through the design and feedback process, turning a simple idea into a working machine. Teammate Myra Elfira created the initial concept sketch, while Chloe Chan, Euxavier Low, and Jevis Teo handled research, marketing, and presentation. Their efforts earned them the People’s Choice Award at SIA2025, further validating their potential.
“We’re confident our product will help educate young children in a fun and engaging way,” the team noted in their project brief. “This fosters a sense of responsibility and a habit of recycling — starting from the earliest age possible.”
According to Chen, this is the kind of real-world, community-rooted innovation the Youth Chapter is designed to encourage. “What they created was joyful, thoughtful and real. It’s not science fiction. It’s what happens when you give students the space and trust to create.”
Youth engagement central to Singapore’s future
The Youth Chapter forms part of SDTA’s contribution to SG60, guided by the principles of innovation, inclusion, and inspiration. As Singapore prepares to face the challenges of an ageing population — with one in four citizens expected to be over 65 by 2030 — the need for youth-led solutions becomes more urgent.
SIA2025 attracted over 200 attendees from both public and private sectors, including representatives from MCCY, Enterprise Singapore, Temasek Foundation, Lenovo Singapore, and *SCAPE. While the morning sessions featured SDTA’s venture cohort, the afternoon was devoted to youth engagement and dialogue. A highlight was a fireside chat led by Lenovo Singapore’s General Manager, Nigel Lee, who spoke with students about their vision for a sustainable Singapore and the role of corporate support in enabling their ideas.
Reflecting on the event, Clara Chen shared, “We’ve always believed in building from the ground up. And now we’re extending that same principle to the next generation.”
Young Singaporeans interested in joining the Youth Chapter can sign up at www.sdta.org.sg/members. While some overseas activities may involve a fee, SDTA and its partners will offer financial assistance to those under existing bursary schemes. All local programmes, including mentorship, hackathons, and workshops, are free.
“We’re not here to sell a dream,” Chen concluded. “We’re here to hand over the tools and turn problem owners into problem solvers.”
