If there's life on Mars...
A team of students from Wesley College have been invited to compete in the finals of the Australian Space Design Competition. Held in the school holidays, the team of nine students and two staff travelled to the University of Queensland in Brisbane for the Space Design Competition Finals where they joined other young people from across Australia who share a mutual passion for STEM and more specifically, space.
In the competition, students work together to form futuristic aeronautical engineering companies and design a space settlement set in a fictional solar environment, one in which humans are beginning to colonise the solar system. After forming an engineering organisation, teams are put to the test with an industry simulation. They must respond to a request for tender (RFT), producing a tender response of up to 50 pages and detailing how their design meets the requirements established in the RFT.
Wesley students Richard, Nick, Joseph, Josh, Zi Yu, Matthew, Dominic, Felix and Henri from the Glen Waverley Campus Senior School worked diligently as a team to complete their proposal during the 2023 school year, with guidance from their teachers, James Fowler, Anthony Cvek, Joan D’Elia and Rebecca Russell-Saunders. Upon submitting their proposal, the team were shortlisted and invited to compete in the finals in 2024 with the prospect of winning a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre to represent Australia at the International Space Settlement Design Competition!
‘As the only team to represent Victoria at the finals, they made us incredibly proud! Although they did not win, the boys should be commended for their efforts. They worked incredibly well as a team, communicating ideas respectfully, listening to their peers’ ideas and collaborating brilliantly to produce a phenomenal proposal.’ Erin Bruns, Head of Faculty, Sciences, said.
Congratulations to Nick (Year 12), who was presented with a leadership award for the support, diligence and guidance he provided his teammates throughout the competition. These awards are given to participants who create an inclusive environment, demonstrate humility and service to others, and work hard for the team while embodying the spirit of the competition.
If we end up colonising our solar system, we know who to speak to!
