Perse student helps secure victory at international space design competition
Upper Sixth leaver Sai helped his team win the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC), a global engineering challenge that brings together students from around the world. Serving as Vice President of Engineering for the winning company, Sai played a leading role in designing and presenting an ambitious spacecraft concept, drawing on the technical, leadership and teamwork skills he has developed through four years of competition.
The competition challenges students to work in large international teams, simulating the experience of running an aerospace company. Participants must respond to a complex request for proposal, designing innovative solutions to future space exploration and settlement challenges before presenting their ideas to a panel of judges.
At this year’s competition, Sai served as Vice President of Engineering for the winning team, Rockdonnell. Working alongside students from around the world, he helped lead the design of a spacecraft capable of transporting people and cargo throughout the inner solar system.
As Vice President of Engineering, Sai’s role extended beyond the technical aspects of the project. He was responsible for overseeing the development of the company’s engineering design and ensuring effective communication between teams, including through the use of specialist “tiger teams” focused on specific aspects of the spacecraft design.
Reflecting on the experience, Sai said: “For this competition, I served as the Vice President of Engineering, and rather than focusing purely on one system, my main responsibility was overseeing how the technical design came to life in our company. A massive part of my role was bolstering intra-departmental communication, by using tiger teams (agile groups of people focused on tackling smaller subsystems of our design) and effective team meetings.
“Being VPE offered me an amazing perspective on how design actually takes shape within a fast-paced company, while the fundamental principles of Space Design Competitions (SDCs) held (Request for Proposal compliance, creative ideas, cohesiveness and vision).
“Beyond the technical oversight, being VPE is as much about the people as it is about design, ultimately ensuring everyone’s ideas were heard, valued and ensuring that they were enjoying the brilliant, chaotic nature of SDCs was the part of my role I had to learn about the most.”
Over an intensive period of around 40 hours, the team developed their concept and prepared a final presentation, with judges ultimately awarding Rockdonnell the competition title.
Congratulations to Sai on this outstanding achievement and on helping his team secure an international title on the global stage.