Latest Laois Event: Students Impress at Amateur Satellite Competition In Athlone

Students Impress at Amateur Satellite Competition In Athlone

The CanSat Ireland competition for 2021/2022 is officially underway. A European Space Agency initiative, CanSat sees students create a miniature satellite the size of a soft drink can before competing to complete a scientific mission. CanSat Ireland is run by the European Space Education Research Office (ESERO) in association with MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory and is sponsored by MIDAS Ireland and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices).

The competition organisers were thrilled to work with students face to face again for the first time since the competition was forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic. The level of technical proficiency on display from these young scientists was impressive and all of these students have a bright future including in Ireland’s burgeoning space industry.

Stephanie O’ Neill of ESERO Ireland was very impressed by the students’ performances at TUS Athlone “This was one of the closest regional competitions we’ve seen. All of the students did their schools proud. Their STEM competencies were already excellent but they undertook a new challenge that tested their limits and, in learning by doing, they excelled”.  

The competition was tight, but ultimately the team from Colaiste Iognaid prevailed and earned themselves a place at the National final in Emo Court Offaly in April 2022. The team from Summerhill College Sligo placed second and will also be proceeding to the national final. The winners of the National Final will go on to represent Ireland at the European level this summer.

Irish teams have performed incredibly well at the European competition in recent years, with Marist College Athlone winning the competition outright in 2018. While registration for this year’s competition is closed, we encourage interested students and teachers to get ready now for the 2022/2023 season which will launch in September 2022.  The competition is aimed at students from Transition year to Leaving Cert level.  All necessary training will be provided to schools by a local Institute of Technology competition partner.  To get involved today, visit https://esero.ie/cansat/ where you can register for the competition or find further resources.