IMPACT BY DESIGN
INITIATIVE
The Impact by Design Initiative is a cross-sector collaboration that supports schools, educators, and young people in creating real, deployable solutions for real community needs. Rooted in the belief that students should be empowered to design with empathy and build with purpose, the initiative provides a two-phase pathway — from open ideation and simple prototyping to full engineering, fabrication, and public deployment. As we prepare for the 2026 cycle, this platform introduces the mission, structure, and opportunities available to schools who want learning to translate into meaningful community impact.
2026 EDITION / 001
CULTURE
「鳥見」こそは紳士淑女のホビーである。
Impact by Design Initiative
Build what matters.
Young people are bursting with ideas. Communities have authentic needs. The Impact by Design Initiative exists to bring both together — through a structured, supported, and meaningful innovation journey where students design real solutions for real people.
Unlike typical competitions, which stop at polished slides or demos, Impact by Design pushes students further: toward empathy, usefulness, durability, and actual deployment. This is where education, engineering, and social purpose meet.
Impact by Design
Build what matters
What We Do
Young people are bursting with ideas. Communities have authentic needs.
The Impact by Design Initiative exists to bring both together — through a structured, supported, and meaningful innovation journey where students design real solutions for real people.
Unlike typical competitions, which stop at polished slides or demos, Impact by Design pushes students further: toward empathy, usefulness, durability, and actual deployment. This is where education, engineering, and social purpose meet.
TWO PHASES ONE JOURNEY
The programme is intentionally designed as a two-phase pathway that accommodates schools at different readiness levels. Teams may join Phase 1 on its own, or progress through Phase 2 to bring their ideas to full deployment.
Phase 1 focuses on curiosity, empathy, and clear thinking. Students express ideas through simple prototypes — using any platform, from cardboard to Scratch to Stick'em mechanical models. No special equipment is required.
Phase 2 supports teams in transitioning early concepts into durable, public-ready builds. With support from maker educators and fabrication partners, students refine, test, and strengthen their designs to be safe, reliable, and functional in real community settings.
PHASE 1: IDEATION & PROTOTYPING
Phase 1 lowers the barrier to innovation. Students begin by exploring lived experiences, community observations, and partner briefs. They learn to understand needs, identify opportunities, and express ideas through quick, accessible prototypes.
Prototyping can be done with any medium — paper models, cardboard rigs, digital mockups, Scratch, MakeCode, Micro:bit, or simple mechanical builds. Younger students receive additional support through our Stick'em partnership.
Phase 1 concludes with a judging round that evaluates clarity, potential impact, and community understanding.
Phase 1 Plus (with facilitation):
Cost: $5,600
- Supports up to three teams per school
- Includes onboarding, design thinking workshops, and coaching
Phase 1 (DIY):
FREE
- Submit your work for judging and selection
- Self-guided participation without facilitation
PHASE 2: BUILDING & DEPLOYMENT
Phase 2 transforms promising ideas into real, usable systems. Teams work closely with engineers and fabrication partners to transition their prototypes into dependable solutions.
Students port their ideas to robust platforms such as Arduino and experiment with materials, mechanisms, and structures that will stand up to real-world use. They learn about iteration, testing, safety, and durability.
The phase ends with a public showcase at the Impact by Design Festival, where final builds must operate continuously for real users — a true measure of relevance and practicality.
Phase 2 Plus (with facilitation):
Cost: $5,800
- Supports one finalist team
- Includes engineering mentorship, fabrication support, and technical validation
- Additional teams may be added with a custom quote
Phase 2 (DIY):
FREE
- Submit your work for judging and selection
- Self-guided build without facilitation
WHY IMPACT BY DESIGN
Schools today are filled with bright ideas, but many learning experiences stop at presentations, slides, and short-lived prototypes. Impact by Design was created to close the gap between student imagination and real-world application.
We believe that innovation becomes meaningful when it is anchored in authentic needs. This initiative combines empathy, experimentation, and engineering to help students solve problems that genuinely matter — from accessibility challenges to wellbeing, sustainability, and inclusion.
The goal is simple: to help young people see that their ideas can become something real, usable, and valued by the communities around them.
DEPLOYMENT
Building for Real Impact
From prototypes to production-ready solutions, students experience the full journey of bringing ideas to life in real community settings.
FOR ALL LEARNERS
The initiative is intentionally inclusive. It supports learners across different ages, strengths, and disciplines.
Primary students focus on exploration and simple mechanical thinking. Secondary students prototype, test, and refine early concepts. IHL teams work at implementation scale, preparing solutions for real deployment.
At every level, teams are encouraged to be cross-disciplinary. Artists, designers, coders, storytellers, and builders learn to contribute their strengths to shared community goals.
TOOLS THAT FIT THE IDEA
We do not prescribe tools during the ideation stage. Students prototype with whatever they are comfortable with. Tools should serve thinking, not the other way around.
Only in Phase 2, where reliability matters, do teams transition into standardised platforms such as Arduino and fabrication techniques supported by our partner ecosystem.
This approach ensures accessibility at the start and safety, maintainability, and consistency at deployment.
DEPLOYMENT
Building for Real Impact
From prototypes to production-ready solutions, students experience the full journey of bringing ideas to life in real community settings.
SCHOOL SUPPORT AT EVERY STEP
Schools receive structured guidance throughout the journey:
Phase 1:
• onboarding for teachers and teams
• empathy + design thinking methods
• challenge briefs co-created with partners
• prototype coaching
• judging and feedback
Phase 2:
• engineering mentorship
• fabrication, materials, and porting support
• technical validation and safety checks
• festival deployment
• documentation and reflection tools
The initiative helps schools build capacity, not dependency.
OUR PARTNERS IN IMPACT
Impact by Design is delivered through close collaboration with seasoned practitioners:
Scaffolds (KWHD) — education design, facilitation, teacher support
LionsForge — industrial-grade fabrication and laser cutting
TinkerMind — mobile prototyping labs and 3D printing
TinkerTanker — electronics, kits, and the Stick'em ecosystem
Together, these partners support every stage from early ideas to real-world deployment.
THE 2026 CYCLE
January — Schools select the final problem theme
March — Ideation and prototyping begins
May — Round 1 judging + finalists selected
June — Deep build, testing, refinement
6 August — Festival showcase and deployment
The timeline is designed to support meaningful progress without overwhelming school schedules.
LIFESTYLE
Tech & Tools
Phase 1: Use anything — Scratch, cardboard, apps.Phase 2: Industry-standard platforms like Arduino for durable builds.
COMMUNITY
Social Proof
Singtel Carnival: Games built by youth used by children with diverse needs.135 students built solutions for children with cerebral palsy.
WORK THAT MATTERS
Our partner ecosystem has supported real-world builds across Singapore:
Singtel Carnival:
Youth-created games brought joy to special-needs children, demonstrating inclusive design in action.
Singtel × LionsForge Inclusive Hackathon:
135 students developed assistive solutions for children with cerebral palsy — a landmark in empathy-driven innovation.
National Family Festival Installations:
Large-scale mechanical builds deployed publicly for thousands of families, proving our fabrication capabilities at community scale.
These outcomes illustrate what's possible when students are supported to build beyond the classroom.
JOIN THE INITIATIVE
We invite schools to participate in a programme that helps young people design meaningful change.
Whether you begin with Phase 1 or commit to the full journey, we're here to support you in bringing purposeful innovation into your school community.
IMPACT BY DESIGN 2026
A two-phase programme helping students design meaningful solutions for real-world problems through prototyping and deployment.
Programme Details
Throughout the year