In 150 years, Canada’s electric grid will be powered by wind energy, the environment will be a key priority and technology will have advanced far beyond our wildest imaginations.
That’s the future according to Jana Sofia Panem, a Grade 11 student from Toronto who won Google’s “Doodle 4 Google” contest this week.
Students from across Canada were invited to submit a reimagined version of Google’s homepage logo with the theme “What I see for Canada’s future is…” More than 12,000 entries were submitted, and an online contest gathered more than 400,000 votes.
Last Friday, Panem got news that she was taking home first place, including a $10,000 scholarship.
“I was so excited, but I think my parents were more excited about it than me,” she told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “I remember my dad jumping in the room when he found out I won.”
In an era marked by concerns about climate change and geopolitical uncertainty, Panem’s illustration struck a sunny tone. The design, called “A Bright Future,” features a flower garden, a wind turbine and the Earth set against a starry night.
“My doodle is supposed to represent a bright future, literally, because in 150 years I see Canada as the resourceful country it is right now, as well as the most technologically advanced country too,” she explained.
A reception was held at the Art Gallery of Ontario Tuesday, where Panem received her $10,000 prize, $10,000 for her school and a new laptop. She was presented the award by Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown of AsapSCIENCE, a popular YouTube channel, and part of her prize includes collaborating with the duo on a video.
Panem said she’s still digesting the news.
“I didn’t think I’d win,” she said. “I looked at everyone else’s drawings and they looked so good.”
Panem’s design will be featured on the Google.ca homepage on Wednesday. She plans to stay up until midnight to watch the page transform.
Other submissions featured similarly ambitious plans for Canada’s future, including human colonies on Mars and robots that could cure disease.
