A team consisting of nine members from Glenrich International School, Uttara has secured first place in the internationally-acclaimed NSS Gerard K O’Neill Space Settlement Contest under the Large Group (Grade 9) category for their visionary project ‘Chirayatasroy’ (Eternal Shelter). Glenrich Uttara has brought home this laurel for the third consecutive year.
In addition to this, another team has won the second prize in the Small Group (Grade 9) category for their project ‘Exserta’, while the third team from Glenrich has achieved ‘Honourable Mention’ in the Large Group (Grade 11) category for a project called ‘Atlas’.
The NSS Gerard K O’Neill Space Settlement Contest, hosted by the National Space Society (USA), is an international competition designed to engage students in imagining and designing future space settlement concepts. This contest is organised to encourage creativity, scientific thinking, and interest in space exploration among the students.
This year, over 26,000 students from 25 countries (including Romania, Ireland, Bangladesh, India, and the United States) participated in the contest, which received more than 4,900 entries.
Members of the winning team for project ‘Chirayatasroy’ were Adwoito Bhaskar, Ahmad Abdullah, Aisha Afsara Yasmin, Seam Ahmed, Ibrahim Amin, Muhayr Manzoor, Ahnaf Tahmeed Aryan, Safwan Chowdhury, and Kazi Afsan Rawnak Anan.
Dr Amlan K Saha, Principal of Glenrich International School, Uttara, opined, “This is such a proud moment for all of us at Glenrich. The winning team has worked relentlessly for days to give shape to this project. I commend the fact that the students delved deeper into an issue that could address existing crises like climate change. At Glenrich, we will keep nurturing the talents of our students.”
Ahmad Abdullah, one of the members of the winning team, said, “We worked hard for around 55 days to submit this project. We are glad that our hard work has been rewarded. Through this visionary project, we want to create a sustainable alternative for humans in the face of increasing hazards.”
The winning project, ‘Chirayatasroy’, is about the vision of humanity’s first self-sustaining space settlement, orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres. Designed to secure a bold future beyond Earth in order to avoid the impacts of climate change, resource depletion, and cosmic hazards, this settlement can host up to 100,000 residents. The proposal also features sustainable living powered by Mobius Strip-inspired solar panels.