At this year’s Sustainable Innovation Asia 2025 (SIA2025), the Singapore Deep-Tech Alliance (SDTA) reminded everyone that the next wave of disruption might be driven not by tech titans, but by teenagers.
And BINNY was the star of the showcase, a child-friendly recycling machine that exchanges recyclable materials for snacks. Shaped like a rabbit and designed to live in kindergartens, it’s the work of five enterprising students from ITE’s Higher Nitec in Event Management programme, who go by Team MFL (Materials For Life).
SIA2025 saw the official launch of SDTA’s Youth Chapter, a bold ground-up initiative that opens the gates of deep-tech to Singapore’s youth. Students from ITE to polytechnics to universities are now invited into the fold with free lifetime membership.
“We need to open the gates and not lower the bar, but change where the starting line begins,” said Clara Chen, Founding Partner of SDTA. Too often, the world of ‘innovation’ feels locked behind jargon and ivory towers. The Youth Chapter dares to imagine otherwise, a world where a 17-year-old without a STEM background still has a place to build, shape, and lead.
Team MFL’s BINNY walked away with the People’s Choice Award at SIA2025. Led by the composed and charismatic Nur Nelly Naomi, the team took just one week to turn an idea into a working prototype under the SG Eco Loop, supported by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and Temasek Foundation’s Oscar Fund.
Design? Courtesy of Myra Elfira. Research, pitch, and marketing? Handled deftly by teammates Chloe Chan, Euxavier Low, and Jevis Teo. None of them had prior training in sustainability or engineering. What they had was mentorship, trust, and an opportunity to create BINNY.
“This was nothing like a school project,” said Nelly. “We wanted something real. Something that could live beyond the showcase.”
Clara Chen was quick to point out that the Youth Chapter isn’t about perfecting pitches or producing polished startups overnight. “What they created was joyful, thoughtful and real. It’s what happens when you give students the space and trust to create.”
With Singapore heading towards a demographic cliff (by 2030, one in four citizens will be over 65), youth innovation is an existential strategy. The Youth Chapter becomes SDTA’s flagship SG60 contribution, anchored on Innovation, Inclusion, and Inspiration, not just buzzwords, but working principles across its venture-building arm, nonprofit wing, and investment portfolio.
In an age where buzzwords like “empowerment” often ring hollow, SDTA’s Youth Chapter delivers not with hyperbole, but with hardware; prototypes, partnerships, and pathways.
Young Singaporeans can register now at www.sdta.org.sg/members. Local programmes are fully subsidised, while global learning trips come with need-based financial aid.
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