Space Science Design Competition

Writing a 50-page tender response wasn't the only challenge our students faced at the Australian Space Design Competition finals, they had to collaborate and negotiate online with students from around the country, as Erin Bruns explains.

Over three days in January, a group of students from Glen Waverley Campus took part in the Australian Space Science Design Competition finals, the culmination of a competition held throughout 2020. They were the only Victorian school in attendance (albeit virtually). Roger Lu, Jerry Lin, Curtis Chan, Insbruck Ong, Tom Avent and Ian Ji - now in Year 12 - Numa Lemoh (OW2020) who recently graduated from Wesley College, formed part of a futuristic aeronautical engineering company set in the year 2065.

An interstate effort

Wesley College was paired with Caroline Chisholm College, Perth Modern School, and Corinda State High School to form Team Borealis. The group showed great skills in communicating, collaborating and negotiating with their colleagues to respond to a Request For Tender (RFT) to design a space settlement set in a fictional solar environment, which humans are beginning to colonise.

After forming their engineering organisation, teams were tasked with producing a tender response of up to 50 pages which detailed how their design met the requirements established in the RFT. Their leadership and ability to respond to the challenges of communicating remotely across three different time zones is to be commended. It was clear our students had gained many skills from the challenges of learning remotely for much of 2020, as their skills and respect for others when communicating online were something to behold.

Committed to learning, no matter the environment

While our students didn’t come away with the big prize, they deserve to be congratulated for their efforts in making it to the finals. Their enthusiasm and engagement with the task was a testament to their commitment to their learning and also their peers.

Thanks must also go to the teachers who supported them over the course of the competition in 2020, namely James Fowler and Joan D’Elia.

Erin Bruns is the Head of Faculty, Sciences, at Glen Waverley Campus