When curiosity landed on Mars recently, it became a topic for discussion among the youth as well as the older generation. Keeping this fixation about space in mind, Kiran Bhandari’s company Catalyse came up with a challenge for school children.
Catalyse, in partnership with Mars One and Comfort Leisure Pvt Ltd, launched the Asian Space Challenge 2012. The Asian Space Challenge 2012 is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young students to join this space race. This challenge invites students between classes 8 and 12 to envision life for humans in space.
After working with the Singapore Tourism Board for six years, Bhandari started Catalyse in 2011 to create engaging and enriching experiences for the new generation. Last year, Catalyse conducted Space Habitat Design Challenge and more than 200 teams across various Indian Schools participated. This year, the company has decided to make this challenge bigger and better. “We expect at least 500 teams from over 250 schools from around the world to participate in these twin challenges,” he said.
Bhandari said that science and technology were making huge progress and so they had chosen the space challenge. “The work done by ISRO is phenomenal and we wanted to expose children to this,” said Bhandari.
The Asian Space Challenge 2012 has two components — the Space Habitat Design Challenge and the newly introduced Space Apps Challenge. While the Space Habitat Design Challenge invites students to design a solution for sustainable housing in Mars, Space Apps Challenge requires students to create a smart phone application using NASA data.
For the Space Habitat Design Challenge, the submissions are to be made in hard copy. Two sets of proposals, with all relevant attachments have to be submitted. The space challenge is not a competition or a commercial exercise but a process of learning for children.
Bhandari has also managed to generate interest among schools in the Middle East, Thailand and Singapore. For further details visit catalyse.in/shdc.