Aiming sky-high at UK Space Design Competition

In November, Year 12 students embraced new scientific challenges by taking part in the UK Space Design Competition. This was an opportunity to Be Adventurous, with students throwing themselves into a complex and technical situations. Below, Igor F (Y12) writes about the day:

Last Saturday, we were fortunate enough to attend the UK Space Design Competition at Imperial College in London, where we had collaborated with several other local schools to take part in an ambitious and challenging engineering competition. The event, which had been masked as an industry simulation, tested our ability to work under significant pressure in a fast-paced environment where communication, management, delegation of tasks, and technical knowledge had been crucial. For many of us, it had been the first time we experienced a competition of this scale, and although the demands were quite testing, the rewarding aspect and sense of achievement once all departments had completed their work made the experience genuinely fulfilling.

Students were placed into groups of ~40 individuals from a variety of schools, bringing different strengths from subjects such as Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Business, Economics, and even Psychology or Sociology. These groups represented fictional aerospace companies from the year 2040, tasked with designing a functioning space convoy capable of transporting thousands of tonnes of goods across the solar system. The brief, described by the jurors as one of the most challenging in the recent years, required departments to design life-support systems, structural design, sourcing of power, logistics, robotics and financial viability to impress investors. By closely co-operating with one another and department heads, alongside the effective integration of individual department’s findings, we had met the demands.

The scale and complexity of the project had led us to build strong working relationships with individuals we had never met before at a rapid pace, and this proved to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of the day. Despite the competitive aspect of the challenge, the atmosphere had remained beyond supportive, and it was evident that everyone was committed to producing the best possible convoy system for Olympus Mons, our company. The experience of working with new people, sharing ideas and perspectives, and seeing the project grow and develop from an initial sketch into a finalised and detailed proposal made the experience engaging and memorable.

Above all, this challenge had been enjoyable as it allowed for us to step out of our everyday classroom learning lives and immerse ourselves in industry opportunities. The pace of the day, variety of activities and tasks for a range of departments and problem-solving requirements had made the day stimulating. The satisfaction gained from presenting the polished, finalised design at the end of the day to a panel of judges was a clear highlight and left many of us interested in pursuing this work in the future. The UK Space Design Competition was not only a valuable opportunity in terms of academic merits, but also a thoroughly fun and memorable experience.

• Igor F, Year 12