Quick Flow snaps up winning spot at 2024 Crocodile Pit

The annual Crocodile Pit took place at St Paul’s Collegiate School on Tuesday 9 April 2024 which saw schools from all over the Waikato compete in a dragon-like den where they show off their invention to a panel of judges. Judges then ’snap' questions and bite holes in their ideas, allowing students to demonstrate their critical thinking and marketing plans.

St Paul’s took out the top four winning spots, with the best three earning themselves a spot at Fieldays to further compete in the National Fieldays Innovation Competition.

• Congratulations to Quick Flow, presented by Riley Collingwood and Gurlabh Khakh who came up with a 'FlexiFill' spout: 'less spill and more fill'. The FlexiFill spout tackles the common challenges farmers face when pouring liquids from 20-litre containers. Their multi-use spout is created for swift, effortless, and efficient pouring, significantly reducing spills and maximising the utilisation of valuable liquids. FlexiFill features a one-piece design, ensuring quick and easy usage. Simply attach it to the top of any 20-litre can, akin to screwing on a lid. FlexiFill is tailored to help farmers save time and money, enabling them to fully capitalise on their purchased solutions.

Riley and Gurlabh received a $400 cheque and an entry into the National Fieldays Innovations Competition as part of their win.

• In second place, Kiwi Beam Solutions, comprised of Liam Fisher, Ollie Robertson, Heera Singh-Sandhu and Flynn Main, introduced the judges to an Ag Beam lifter. The lifter is catered to all those who work in the kiwifruit orchard industry, including the latest design of orchards. This product is designed to fit the rear 3-point linkage on a tractor. With a minimalistic design, the Ag Beam lifter takes no longer than five minutes to set up on a tractor. It is designed to fit under fallen Ag Beams in an orchard and lift them back up onto their posts. This can also be used to lift the Ag Beams taking the weight on the post if the post needs to be replaced. With backward and forward tilt along with 360 turning, this allows for easier manoeuvring in tight spaces inside the orchard.

Kiwi Beam Solutions nabbed a spot into the National Fieldays Innovations Competition and a $300 cheque.

• In third place, Aotearoa Shukaku Shochu, presented by Saniya Randhawa, Humza Sulaiman, Isla Robinson and Sophie Graafhuis, introduced an innovative Kiwi spin on the traditional spirit. This beverage is known to have a smooth, clean flavour which is lower in calories than other beverages. The process consists of the fermentation of koji rice, this will then be used with the combination of kumara and other blends of flavours including manuka honey and horopito. The product is singly distilled to retain the original flavours which are intertwined and enhanced with the kiwi flavours which they have introduced to this drink.

Aotearoa Shukaku Shochu received a $200 cheque and an entry into the National Fieldays Innovations Competition.

• Fourth equal saw Mariska Pereira, Briar Roden, and Olive Montgomerie present their invention, Clean Milk Catcher. The Clean Milk Catcher allows dairy farmers to catch suspected mastitis milk in a sterile pot cleanly to gather a better result on what type of mastitis the cow has, to gain correct treatment options. Gaining correct samples that have not been contaminated within the milking shed proves nearly impossible when there is a lot of debris around. The Clean Milk Catcher is designed to easily place the cow teat into it, where the manual pulsation will begin, milking the cow straight into a test pot. This will then allow the farmer to stop pulsating once a big enough sample is created, unscrew the test pot enabling testing to occur. The part the teat goes in is then removed and can be washed, keeping it clean and ensuring that the following sample taken is not insufficient due to debris accidentally entering. This design makes it simple and quick, allowing the farmer to collect a sterile sample hassle-free.

Mariska, Briar and Olive were presented a $100 cheque for their placing.

• Also in fourth place was The Reeler, by Jetta Kete, Liam Inman, Reegan Isaac, and Hannah Syme. The Reeler is designed to improve the electric fence reel, by making the tape retractable without having to manually wind the tape in. The Reeler is retractable via the use of a motor in the centre hub of the reel. The motor will work when you attach the external power source to the electric tape. The reel will convert the pulsating power from the tape into DC power to charge the battery inside the reel, the battery will power the motor to wind in the tape.

We look forward to hearing from our students as they proceed to the next round of competition at Fieldays. Good luck!