CAD-Course-Nection

With the belief that there will be sufficient technical-human-resource to fulfill the industrialization’s needs across developing countries. We create an app called CAD-Course-Nection, which helps engineering-related students by providing low-paid online computer-aided-design (CAD) courses and improve connections between students, employees and employers through online profiles and micro-STEM projects.

Our solution is to create an app that has 3 main functions such as online CAD courses, STEM-related projects and professional & academic networks. This app is built to help enhance under-privileged technical students' marketable skills in order to fulfil job requirements in industries. Those students can access to the app through their smart phones or browsers of their computers with low fees anywhere and anytime. They can learn those effectively-designed online courses, take tests and obtain credits after finishing the courses. Plus, in the app, users can find other relevant STEM projects requested by other institutions to work on. Therefore, they can gain more experiences and earn some budgets to support their lives before they graduate and/or find jobs. Moreover, the app is a platform where employers, employees and other students can register their profiles into for free. They can search through each other’s profiles and mini projects, and finding teammates. This app will improve youths’ CAD skills with appropriate course outlines and recognition and simultaneously be a tool to shrink the network gap between young students, graduates and employers.

As those 3 functions mentioned above can be proceeded from Cambodia, this project can be easily scaled to other parts of the world. Almost everything in the app is run via the Internet. Users will have even more opportunities to connect with each other across countries for better working aspects and skill transfer.

The problem is related to the lack of suitable technical workforce that has to fulfill industrialization’s need. In a developing country like Cambodia, industrialization is core domain to boost the country’s economy. Somehow, not all graduates or students studying industry-related subjects can meet job requirements, especially AutoCAD and SOLIDWORKS skills. Not all of their schools have such CAD courses for free. It requires money to learn them with some professional tutors if those students have to master those skills fast in order to eliminate their job-searching and academic obstacles. This situation becomes an even huger burden for under-privileged engineering students.

According to Asian Development Bank, the Cambodian average unemployment rate is 1.4% in 2011 due to low educational system. The share of GDP dedicated to public expenditure of high education in 2008 was only 0.13%, leading to inadequate provision of required courses from the school, only some students can seek outside ineffective courses paying high fees, adding more struggle to them financially as at the $2-a-day international standard, 41% of people were still poor. Thus, our solution will tackle such tragedy of unemployment, inadequate youth skill, skill mismatch and unethical professional activities which are main negative contributors of economic boost.

For the outcomes of the app, under-privileged engineering students can master such skills and obtain eCertificates after finishing the courses designed to achieve efficient learning period. Plus, students’ opportunities will be more opened to STEM-related projects to improve their skills in real-life terms, making them even more employable. Simultaneously, students and employers will be more visible to each other than before with more trust because our app has partnership with professional and academic institutions, and high-standard tutors to ensure courses quality and student’s skills.

Track downloads in Play Store and Appstore - 1,000 people in Cambodia download the app

Track users' data and activities - 10,000 users will access online course and connect with each others

Track data and user’s activities, and downloads in Play Store and Appstore - 50,000 users from all around the world will have access to app

Not only does our app consist of reasonable online courses, dashboard, users’ profile and constructive STEM-related projects, but also our app has personality tests to uncover users’ strengths and weaknesses and can automatically avoid mismatching between users in case they do not choose other users on their own.

In addition to the fact that users can take advantage of our app by building their skills, connecting other users and earn money through projects at the same time, our app provides absolutely flexible courses to users. It means that our online courses are designed to reduce learning period with no fixed schedules of classes because we will have consecutive sets of lessons and tests.

Besides using the app, users can log in their account through computer browsers as long as they can access to the Internet. Users can register, find projects to work on and connect with other users for free. Plus, there are certain amount of course when users invite other people to join our app or they obtain high scores on CAD tests.

Our financial plan is to generate revenue through course payments from students. As we will provide lessons in significantly low prices and suitable for both computers and smartphones and 48% of Cambodians were found to have at least one smart phone, we have confidence in our income plan. Our other incomes will be from employers seeking to recruit potential and competent workforce through our app, jobs sponsor fees will be charged when the students click and view the jobs sponsored. Governments can also offer us subsidies to help disadvantaged students. Any donations or budget from investors will be accepted. We will market our app with the most effective and possible way including social media platform according to regions we want to advertise in, offering incentives such as discounts for students who would invite their friends to join in and further collaborations with relevant universities and big influencers in the region.

There are two main factors limiting the ability of our solution to succeed such as the lack of funding, and recognition from investors, and an operative team. 

Being able to get my team involved with Solve can allow our idea to reach for not only its full potential conceptually, but also other global-standard stakeholders. Solve will be able to help us tailor our idea into the reality at its best and most innovative form, which will be served back to people in my community and other parts of the world. At the same time, Solve possesses lots of prestigious partnership for our idea, which is believed that we can confidently convert our Research into Pilot, as well as further steps effectively and economically.

For the time being, we have not had any partners yet.

Glassdoor, Khan Academy, Coursera, Glass&Co