Isle of Man students can once again enter the prestigious Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge thanks to sponsorship from the ManSat Group.
The global competition was founded by late Apollo astronaut Pete Conrad and his wife, Nancy, and is run each year by the Conrad Foundation in the USA.
It’s open to students aged 13-18 and teams can enter in one of four categories – Aerospace & Aviation, Cyber-Technology & Security, Energy & Environment, and Health & Nutrition.
The teams have until 11.59pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Tuesday, November 1 to register for the competition, with ManSat sponsoring each team’s entry fee.
‘This is the seventh year we have sponsored the Conrad Challenge, and the Isle of Man has produced some excellent entries,’ said Chris Stott, CEO and Chairman of ManSat.
‘Two years ago 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 a wonderful initiative that tasks the students with creating innovative products or solutions. It offers budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to develop the products of tomorrow.’
The 2017 final will take place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors’ Complex in Houston from April 27-29, with the finalists presenting their concepts to a panel of experts.
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.
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