Introducing our Protostars Season 4 Lineup
Meet our newest 34 Protostars to join the fam ✌🏽
🎓 Ada Luong and Angeni Bai are creating a web platform that uses AI to improve learning for tech students by turning lecture videos into summaries, flashcards, and quizzes.
📓 Adhirai Maninilavan is creating a planner to help people with chronic mental and health conditions manage their medications, appointments, and symptoms by tracking important information outside of the doctor's office.
🎵 Amitabh Jeganathan is creating the label 6Katci9 to promote Southeast Asian DJs and creatives, challenge stereotypes, and break the mould that has pigeonholed Southeast Asians as academically gifted with limited creative potential.
🍰 Angela Wang is creating Cak’d, a passion project that combines baked goods with affirming words to promote a healthy relationship with food and self-image. She plans to expand this project to an online bakery that fosters a positive sense of community.
🛠️ Bella Brockwell designs shade sails for hire and retail that promote human connection and well-being. Their colourful canopies provide an outdoor gathering space for friends to ground themselves in nature.
🎪 Cal Botelho hosts the Trans Affirming Clothing Drive (TACD). TACD collects and redistributes free gender-affirming wear to local trans youth who cannot access it, building community and providing mutual aid support.
🎬 Carmen Yih is creating "Empty Your Plate", a short film exploring food and dance's powerful role in communication and social bonding. The film highlights the intimate experience of sharing a meal and the transformative energy of a street dance cypher, raising questions about the true meaning of knowing someone.
🛠️ Chuen Ley Low is developing affordable haptic VR gloves that provide a truly immersive experience, revolutionising the VR industry.
👕 Dawson Gagne is building a community and brand called "Frankston Hates You Back" to challenge negative perceptions and celebrate the unique charms of the suburb.
🎭 Eezu Tan is directing a play, "My Big Fat Asian Wedding", exploring the theme of 'saving face' in Asian culture. The play culminates in a Malaysian-Australian wedding where family secrets are revealed, validating and unpacking the experiences of the Asian-Australian community.
🛠️ Emad Khan is building an unmanned aerial vehicle. This project allows him to learn about building and developing a functional aerial vehicle.
🛠️ Emanuel Shariev is fighting avoidable blindness by selling trendy rings online and in person with a pay-what-you-want pricing model. Profits will go to the Fred Hollows Foundation, which aims to end avoidable blindness.
🎭 Eugene Lynch is producing a play called “From Morning to Midnight”. The play explores the story of working a dead-end job, discovering wealth, and exploring society as a rich person. This expressionist play asks questions about fulfilment and survival during a cost-of-living crisis.
🍽️ Jae Brieffies is creating RADIANT supper club and community artwork to provide young people with a language and actions for a better world. We bring together young people for free dinners to discuss building justice and equality.
🤖 Jameson Harvey’s project is Red Dirt Robotics. He’s bringing STEM education to Australia's regional communities. Jameson has travelled 50,000km to work with over 800 young people, inspiring them to pursue robotics and technology.
🧪 Jessie Xue is running miRmaids, a project using biotechnology to answer students' questions. Jessie and her team are creating synthetic logic circuits to determine cell type and elicit desired responses.
🗞️ Jumana Khan is creating a digital community zine for WoC to share stories and experiences about menstruation and womanhood.
🎪 Kat Aucamp and their team are hosting Rogue – a fashion show for emerging designers in New Zealand that's independent of NZ Fashion Week.
🧑🌾 Krishaa Tulsiani’s project is Mindful Blooms, a flower-arranging workshop that promotes positive mental health and well-being.
📓 Lara Berge is developing an interactive career journal to help young people make life-changing career decisions. The project combines personal questions with AI to help users understand themselves and their purpose.
🎭 Maddy Weeks is hosting “Queerly Beloved”, an all-Queer comedy lineup show that creates a safe space for performers to share their experiences and identities without censorship.
🎵 Margarita Bassova is creating a cross-genre 4-track EP using field recordings from visits to family in Russia and Armenia, exploring the theme of physical distance from heritage. The goal is for any child of immigrants to be able to listen to these songs and feel a strong sense of yearning for a home they never got to know.
🎨 Marie-Jo Orbase is creating “AREA 51: A PHOTOSHOOT” which amplifies and celebrates the voices and experiences of people of colour in their community. This photographic series celebrates the ethereal nature of people of colour.
🃏 Maya Templer is creating “Political Trading Cards,” a game that combines civic education and entertainment to make politics more accessible.
🎨 Melissa Clements is painting miniature oil paintings that capture moments of beauty and vast landscapes, inspired by a recent trip to Iceland. The project explores the psychological dimension of landscape, and the goal is to exhibit the series publicly.
📕 Michele Gould is writing a high fantasy novel set in a mythical South-East Asian-inspired universe that celebrates the culture she grew up with and is proud of. The book features queer and diverse Asian representation and aims to provide a more diverse perspective in the fantasy genre.
🎪 Milli Weaver’s passion project is Endo Articles – an organisation that unites young people with chronic illnesses in a safe space. Milli runs events and workshops to help those with chronic illnesses feel more confident with intimacy and address the stigma around disability and sex.
🎨 Monique Gawne is leading a school mural project for students in her 8-10B art class. The class is made up of 'B' students from year levels 8-10, who have low attendance, poor literacy and numeracy levels, and often disruptive behaviour. The project aims to engage these students and give them a reason to come to school.
🛠️ Roshni Crow is designing a new hair claw clip that is both comfortable and safe to wear. Traditional claw clips can be uncomfortable to wear when resting your head against something and can even pose a safety risk in accidents. Roshni's project aims to provide a solution that combines comfort, style, and convenience.
🎵 Saif Ayesh is the creator of Sound Botanika, an event series that celebrates the connection between nature and music. The experience is immersive and aims to promote mindfulness, harmony, and awe. Sound Botanika will bring together musicians, artists, and nature enthusiasts in a collaborative experience.
🎙️ Sian Crowley hosts The Seed Pod, a podcast exploring our connection to nature through storytelling. With guests, Sian shares stories of childhood, adventure, and nature facts to celebrate our connection to the environment and inspire positive action.
🌐 Steve Kraynov is creating a website that helps renters find suburbs, view historical price charts, and forecast future rent prices. The site aims to empower renters to negotiate fairer prices in NSW.
📕 Teirangi Klever is publishing a bilingual poetry book in English and Te Reo Māori. Inspired by poets like Neil Hilborn and Hone Atuawhare, Teirangi wants to share vivid stories promoting Aotearoa's indigenous language.
🎬 William Thaxter is directing “Catching Up With Lee,” a 10-minute short film exploring the complexities of rape culture. The film is an intricate character study of two people lost amongst increasing political polarisation.
👀 Find out more about Protostars on our website, including information on when our next application intake opens.