VIJAYAWADA / VISAKHAPATNAM / SRIKAKULAM: Nine girl students from the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (APSWREIS) are over the moon as their science projects have found a place in the list of 75 winners in the ATL Space Challenge 2021 conducted by the Atal Innovation Mission, in collaboration with ISRO and CBSE.
Three of the 75 winning projects are from Andhra Pradesh and all of them are from the APSWREIS. The three winning teams comprising three girls each, hail from APSWR Centre of Excellence, Madhurawada, Visakhapatnam, APSWR, Markapur, Prakasam, and APSWR, Nellimarla, Vizianagaram.
Dhawan Space Rover, a working prototype model which can travel in space, developed by Urmila of Class 8, Y Jessica and E Arundhati of Class 9 from the AP Social Welfare Residential Centre of Excellence at Madhurawada in Visakhapatnam under the theme Inhabit Space, was one of the three winning projects from the state.
Explaining their science project, Jessica said their team was elated on hearing the news. “We worked under the guidance of our principal and ATL incharge Rambabu to make this prototype, which can travel on any planet,” she told TNIE.
Highlighting Dhawan Space Rover’s functionality, she said the rover has a six-wheeler motor and two bogies which is capable of maintaining proper balance in any area. “We are glad that our model has been selected in a national level competition. We are confident about our idea while working on it as we have our school management’s support and guidance. But this win is indeed an unexpected moment for us since there are a total of 2,500 project submissions,” she said.
"Not only did this win motivate us further to participate in such large-scale challenges more often, but also boosted the confidence of the rest of our classmates to give competitions like this a try the next time without giving into self-doubt," the trio said.
G Lavanya, R Poojitha and K Chinnammi of class 9 of APSWR Nellimarla, Vizianagaram, got the national-level recognition for their ‘Creative Model of 3D Pragyan Rover’. They submitted their project in the virtual mode under the guidance of their physics teacher I Seetamma, school principal A Ranisri and APSWREIS district coordinator B Chandravathi.
Speaking to TNIE, I Seethamma said, “We submitted our Pragyan Rover project with explore space theme in the ATL Space Challenge. We are happy to win the ATL Space Challenge 2021. All three girls hail from poor families. Poojitha’s parents are illiterates. However, she has an interest in space science. This success will boost their confidence and encourage them towards innovations. We feel proud that our students got the national level recognition.”
According to APSWR officials, the three teams have got an opportunity to attend sessions on innovation, space science and technology held in virtual mode by the Atal Innovation Mission, ISRO, Central Board of Secondary Education, and NITI Aayog. The teams are set to receive presents from ISRO and NITI Aayog.