Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida Campus, hosted the prestigious 19th Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition (ARSSDC) from 29th January to 31st January, 2023, wherein, school students from different countries of Asia, including India, China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Iran and Bhutan participated. The winning team "Dougeldyne Astrosystems and Flechtel Constructors", comprised of students of Amity International School, Saket, apart from four other school teams including The Doon School, Dehradun, The Experimental High School, Beijing, Lahore Grammar School, and International School Lahore. The winning team will get the opportunity to participate in the final competition held at NASA Kennedy Space Centre in the US.
In addition, Kushagra Sharan of “Vulture Aviation”, Moksha Shah of “Rockdonnell”, Chaitanya Bansal of Vereinigten Flugfahrten, Yutika Deoger of “Grumbo Aerospace” and Utkarshini Mishra of “Dougeldyne Astrosystems and Flechtel Constructors” were presented the “Dick Edwards Award”, on this occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Greg Autry, Clinical Professor of Space Leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management, said, “The focus should be on hard work and mutual cooperation, teamwork, and sticking to the deadlines as these are the attributes which make you a winner.” He also presented the role of inspiration, imitation and theft in the context of Spacecraft Design during the Valedictory Session.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. W. Selvamurthy, President, Amity Science, technology and Innovation Foundation, said, “It is a matter of immense pride and pleasure for Amity to host this prestigious competition wherein school students from different parts of the world, were provided with the opportunity to showcase their talent and creativity. The competition aims at igniting the spirit of research and innovation, which is the major focus area at Amity. Winning is not important but it is the experience and learning which enriches students, adding to their skillsets and attributes. Amity would like to build a strong partnership with NASA and other Space Research Organizations to nurture the talent of the students interested in Aerospace & Engineering.”
Sharing his experience, Aathrey M. Doddi, a student of Amity International School, Saket, said, “The experience of participating in the competition was extremely unique and enriching and the feeling of winning the competition is amazing and we are glad that we have been able to make our teachers, school and country proud.”
During the three-day event, more than 10 Dignitaries from Boeing- US and India, NASA and Germany visited to train the students. The jury comprised of Dr. Greg Autry, Clinical Professor, Space Leadership, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Mr. Jack Gaford, Senior Systems Engineer, Boeing USA and Mrs. Anita E. Gale, Boeing Associate Technical Fellow(Retd.). Each team comprised of students from five different schools and a total of five teams were selected to make a presentation before the jury highlighting the designing of a composite structure, defining the source of construction materials, determining the source of electric power and water including vehicles used for transportation, design computers and robotics systems to illustrate pleasant community design, including the estimated cost and time of completion of the project, etc and the event was moderated by Mr. Abhishek Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, ThinkRobotics.