Earlier this month, I was grateful to attend the launch of the South Australian Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) STEM Competition at the Adelaide Zoo. The event also saw the launch of A celebration of Science and Nature, a compilation book of the winning entries from the 2022 competition. The STEM Competition, which SmartSat is a proud sponsor of, asks students to complete a design project based on their reading from a list of science, technology, engineering and maths books. With Space listed as one of the categories that students can produce a project on, the PRC STEM Competition provides a great opportunity for SmartSat to contribute to inspiring the next generation of space leaders.

The Australian Youth Aerospace Association (AYAA) Astra program concluded at the end of March, with the three teams of young space professionals – Team Acacia, Team Casuarina and Team Banksia – presenting their final white papers. SmartSat was pleased to again sponsor the program, with myself providing mentorship on Earth Observation to Team Banksia. You can read Team Banksia’s white paper, Eyes in space and on Country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges are integral to shaping the future of Earth Observation and bushfire management, here.

As part of this program, sponsors also provide a scholarship to one member of each of the three teams. These Emerging Space Pioneer Awards allow the winners to come to Adelaide for the Andy Thomas Space Foundation’s Australian Space Forum to network with other space professionals. I am proud to announce Tegan Clark as the worthy recipient from Team Banksia. Tegan studied Astrophysics at Undergraduate level but is now studying a PhD looking at the surface soil with Earth Observation in order to increase our understanding of the dynamics of the Australian landscape.

Associate Professor Ady James
Education & Training Coordinator