Students from the Isle of Man can compete against peers from around the world in the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge, thanks to support from the ManSat Group.
ManSat is once again offering to cover the entry fees for any Isle of Man teams who enter the competition, which was founded by late Apollo astronaut Pete Conrad and his wife, Nancy.
The challenge is run each year by the Conrad Foundation in the USA and is open to students aged 13-18, with teams entering one of four categories – Aerospace & Aviation, Cyber-Technology & Security, Energy & Environment, and Health & Nutrition.
Teams have until 11.59pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Monday, October 16 to register for the competition. They then have until Tuesday, October 31 to submit their ‘investor pitch form’.
Nancy Conrad said: ‘The Conrad Challenge is a global competition for teams of high school students to create solutions to real challenges in aerospace, energy, cyber security and health. By combining education, innovation and entrepreneurship, the students have the opportunity to design the future – and we look forward to teams entering from the Isle of Man.’
Ian Sanders, ManSat Group Chief Financial Officer, said: ‘This is the eighth year of sponsoring Isle of Man students to enter this challenge, and we have seen some truly excellent submissions in recent years. Indeed, in 2014, a team from QEII High School reached the semi-final stage, narrowly missing out on visiting the US for the final to present their project.
‘The Spirit of Innovation is an inspirational competition, challenging students to create innovative products or solutions, and providing young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to develop the products of tomorrow.’
Any Isle of Man students wishing to enter a team should contact ManSat Chief Financial Officer Ian Sanders in the first instance via the ‘contact’ form at http://mansat.org/.
For more information about the Conrad Challenge, visit: http://www.conradchallenge.org/2017-challege/.
ManSat was the originator of the Island’s space industry following its formation in 1998 and today works in partnership with Isle of Man Government, its core function carrying out satellite filing on behalf of the Isle of Man Communications Commission.
ManSat has strong ties with the Department of Education and Children and Manx schools. In addition to its work with Conrad Foundation, each year the company sponsors scholarships for year 12 students to study for two weeks with the NASA United Space School in Houston.
Photo - Pete Conrad.
