Awais Ali, Fiona Poda, and Mohammed Siddiqui, along with Adam Brocklehurst from K2 IP, are the winners of the SatelLife competition.
Awais Ali, a 16-year-old student from Derby Grammar School, will get £3,000 and professional guidance on how to develop his idea for a cycling-focused software that would help bikers plan routes and automatically inform users in the event of an accident.
The SatelLife Competition, now in its fifth year, gives young people a share of £50,000 for the best ideas about how to use data gathered from space to improve daily life.
This year’s ideas include apps to assist energy consumers, safeguard critical plans for carbon absorption, and enhance earthquake prediction.
The University of Leicester team earned the group prize for its suggestion to monitor dangerous concentrations of minerals and nutrients in water that can be hazardous to human health and ecosystems.
Eight runners-up received awards, including four individuals and four teams.
Says Awais Ali
I was overjoyed when I learned that I had won. My concept was inspired by reading about the eCall feature in cars, which, in the event of an accident, immediately contacts emergency services and provides your position.
However, I was unable to locate any goods that were specifically designed for cyclists like myself.
A design element to safeguard cyclists’ safety is essential because they frequently ride in remote locations alone.
I would be overjoyed to see my concept put into practise since it would be so satisfying to contribute to something that might save a life.
Virgin Orbit’s horizontal launch system is scheduled to launch from Spaceport Cornwall this year, marking the first satellite launch from a UK spaceport.
Vertical launch from Shetland’s SaxaVord Spaceport and Space Hub Sutherland will come next.
The UK Space Agency’s CEO, Dr. Paul Bate, stated:
The clock is ticking on Britain becoming the first country in Europe to provide small satellite launch services, building on our globally renowned satellite manufacturing sector.
It will be a historic moment when satellites are launched from the UK for the first time, and I hope that it will encourage others to consider the prospects in our expanding space industry.
Awais, the team from the University of Leicester, and all the runners-up deserve my congratulations.
It is wonderful to see young people so passionate about harnessing space technology to better our lives.
This inventiveness and innovation will guarantee the UK space sector’s continued expansion.
The competition offers individuals between the ages of 11 and 22 the chance to test their ideas with space specialists and, who knows, maybe one day join one of the UK’s fastest-growing industries, which now employs 47,000 people. Satellites underpin the economy and daily life.
The UK Space Agency is dedicated to promoting the ability of space to inspire people and to provide businesses with smarter, more eco-friendly solutions in order to support a more sustainable future.
Tim Peake, a British ESA astronaut, said:
It’s great to see how many people have been motivated by my trip to space, and I’m hoping that when satellites are launched from the UK, it will encourage young people to consider careers in the space industry.
It is great to see the brilliant ideas for ways satellites may improve life on Earth, from monitoring climate change to viewing television, which plays a significant role in our daily lives.
Awais, the University of Leicester team, and all the runners-up deserve our sincere congratulations.
From the University of Leicester’s winning team, EUTROPH-1, Mohammed Siddiqui said:
I’m overjoyed that our ground-breaking concept—using a satellite platform to track eutrophication—has excelled and won the SatelLife Competition.
Our marine ecosystems are under serious risk of eutrophication as a result of the rising pollution of our water bodies with industrial and agricultural waste.
Therefore, our satellite will deliver crucial information to assist in monitoring and controlling the dangers for the emergence of eutrophication.
With the intention of turning our concept into a reality and launching it into space, I would like to continue working on further developing it.
My goal is to establish a career in the space industry so that I may contribute in an original and sustainable way to the transformation of the space industry.
The judging panel was made up of professionals from the UK Space Agency, Satellite Applications Catapult, and European Space Agency, as well as members from the sector (ESA).
The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications is located in Harwell, Oxfordshire, and the UK is a significant investor in the ESA’s business applications programme.
winners of particular categories
Awais Ali, 16, of Derby Grammar School, Cycle Aid
Individual Category Winner Receives £3,000
Awais, a passionate rider, sought a system designed specifically for bicycles to help with navigation on various terrains and inform people in case of an emergency.
He suggests using GPS and meteorological data in software to aid determine timing and routes as well as to warn trusted folks to an unexpected change in route or odd movement that would signal that the cyclist has crashed or been engaged in an incident.
Eleanor Stanton, 22, of the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, author of “Increasing and Encouraging Energy Efficiency using Satellite Data: Microgrids,”
Individual Category Runner-Up; Awarded £2187.50
By using data from Small Modular Reactors in an interactive app, Eleanor hopes to alter how the public views energy use (SMRs).
She suggests incorporating SMRs into a microgrid along with renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Consumers of energy can keep track of where their energy comes from, learn more about nuclear energy, and promote conservation through the strategic use of meteorological satellite data to forecast the effectiveness of renewables and usage of data from SMRs.
Finding the Best Shipping Routes for Sustainable Shipping Using Satellites, Callum Reid, 14, of Sunderland’s Southmoor Academy
Individual Category Runner-Up; Awarded £2,187.50
According to Callum’s proposal, it would be possible to predict the intensity and direction of the world’s ocean currents and choose the best lanes and circumstances for international shipping by using data from ocean-observing satellites.
With the help of this idea, shipping companies could choose the safest, quickest, and most affordable routes, cutting down on travel times, improving fuel efficiency, lowering costs, and lowering the amount of greenhouse gases released by the world shipping industry as well as its effect on climate change.
Detecting landmines and unexploded ordnance via satellite technology 17-year-old Oscar Scully from Stockport’s Aquinas College
Individual Category Runner-Up; Awarded £2,187.50
In the Oscar entry, landmine identification and removal were made safer, more affordable, and more dependable by using satellite images, location, and scanning technology like ground penetrating radar.
to Oscar, such a system would ultimately save lives by minimising the effects of fighting and the lingering effects of indiscriminate munitions on post-conflict populations.
Troy Wood, 20, of University Academy 92 in Manchester, is the founder of Satellite Blockchain Solutions (SBS).
Individual Category Runner-Up; Awarded £2,187.50
Troy suggested using satellite blockchains, which offer better connectivity and security than cloud-based servers, to store encrypted data from aircraft black boxes.
When retrieving black box data is not possible, this might be helpful.
EUTROPH-1: A Eutrophication Tracking Satellite, team category winners University of Leicester students Fiona Poda, Riyad Drous, both 22; Mohammed Siddiqui, 20; and Domen Gostincar, 20;
£12,000 was given to the team category winner.
The process through which a body of water gradually becomes enriched with minerals and nutrients is known as eutrophication.
The results could be dangerous for ecosystems and damaging to human health.
Team EUTROPH-1 suggests using a satellite to follow, monitor, and evaluate the danger of eutrophication developing in bodies of water using remote sensors.
The information would be used to feed a warning scale based on dangers and warning indications, leading to improved monitoring and prevention strategies.
Neve Bennett, Faye Crowley, Amber Russell, all 15 years old; Lily Tonkin, 14 years old; and Team 3mergency, all from Penrice Academy in Cornwall
Team category runner-up, receiving £8,750
A necklace or pendent with a hidden emergency beacon is the concept behind 3Mergency.
A signal is sent through MEO satellites when the pendent’s hidden button is pressed, alerting up to three emergency contacts to the wearer’s position and emergency.
Pushing the button twice will notify the police of your emergency and location.
The pendant connects to an app that has maps, can be customised to include safe havens like friends’ and family members’ homes, and lets the user reverse erroneous activations.
TectOrbit is composed of 18-year-old Imperial College London undergraduates Michael Clark and Aryan Shah.
Team category runner-up, receiving £4,375
With the use of a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and geostationary satellites, TectOrbit would be able to anticipate earthquakes with unprecedented confidence and precision thanks to fast data processing.
The appropriate authorities would be informed when warning level criteria are reached or exceeded.
Geosynchronous Satellite Monitoring of Native Seagrass by Dylan Spokes, 17, and Hayley Watson, 18, both of Truro College, Cornwall
Team Category Runner-Up Prize: £4,375
In order to analyse the state of native seagrass, which is in charge of absorbing 15% of all the carbon in the oceans, Dylan and Hayley suggest using satellite data.
They also suggest repairing and enhancing growth when necessary.
They would keep an eye on the colour of the vegetation, the temperature of the coastal waters, and the density of human activities, particularly fishing, using high-definition optics.
Matthew Barrat, Ryan Kirkham, Hannah Baker, and Hugo Phillips, all 18 years old and from the Commonweal Sixth Form College in Swindon, are members of DriverAid.
Team category runner-up, receiving £8,750
An app called DriverAid encourages people to walk or cycle wherever possible to improve their health and general fitness and discourages longer, needless trips.
This helps reduce traffic emissions from non-commercial road traffic.
According on distance, necessity, and closeness to residential areas, the app would generate ratings for each journey that might be converted into prizes.