College pupils are winners in UK Space Design Competition Team

Published on isbi School News dated Thursday 23rd of April 2015

On 28th and 29th March, Imperial College London hosted over 200 students aged 14 to 18 who were participating in the sixth national final of the annual UK Space Design Competition (UKSDC).

This huge challenge saw 45-50 pupils from different schools working cooperatively to form a 'company'. Nine Bishop's Stortford College pupils took part: Matthew Braz, James Catton, Benedict Corti Tyler, Will Daniels, Elizabeth Farrant, Victoria Farrant, Sam Marshall, Jonathan Minihane and Alexander Turley-Pound.

This year the students were asked to present detailed designs for a mobile space settlement housing 10,000 people, designed to travel powered by solar sails in a cycler orbit between the Earth and Mars in the year 2060. They received advice throughout the weekend from Imperial College undergraduates with specialist knowledge relevant to the design process.

Each 'company' then had to complete a 50 page presentation and make a 35 minute presentation in a sales pitch format, to the judges and 200 fellow competitors.

The winning design, called Balaluceras was proposed by 'Vulture Aviation', and was comprised of a multi-torus design which was praised by the judges for its detailed radiation shielding and cargo handling systems. The team included students from Quintin Kynaston Academy, Capital City Academy, Westminster School, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Bishop's Stortford College, and Riddlesdown Collegiate School. They had earned their places either by winning at a regional heat or producing a top video entry.

This year's judging panel included Anita Gale, an Associate Technical Fellow and senior project engineer at Boeing; Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education at the UK Space Agency; Dr Randall Perry, founder of the UKSDC and a senior research investigator at the Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre at Imperial College London; and Helen Oliver, a research associate at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

From the winning company, twelve members were selected to form the British team which will go on to the international final at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida this summer, competing against teams from all over the world. Congratulations go to Bishop's Stortford College pupils Victoria Farrant and Matthew Braz who were selected for this unique opportunity.

In addition to this wonderful achievement, Victoria Farrant won the Dick Edwards Design Award. Each company had one winner who, in the judgement of the organisers, made the most significant contribution in term of team work, project input and organisational skills. Additional congratulations go to Victoria.