Multinational Team from the NCU Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering wins UNISEC Mission Idea Content for the second time
Yi Duann (second to left) won the 5th Mission Idea Contest held by University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC).
Yi Duann, a student of the National Central University (NCU) Graduate Institute of Space Science (GISS), teamed up with William Evonovsky from the University of Colorado, and Kaustubh Anand Kandi from the Indian Space Research Organization, and won the championship of 5th Mission Idea Contest held by the University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC).
The honor came after the three also took home first place in the competition’s preliminary contest last year. The team joined forces through the International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE) on their small satellite development project –combining Taiwanese Earth observation satellites FORMOSAT-5, IDEASSat/INSPIRESat-2 and the multi-national INSPIRESat-1 satellite – with the objective of studying the effects of Ionospheric space weather on wireless communications and satellite navigation.
Duann said it was her honor to have represented the team to present their proposal. She gained a more comprehensive insight into the scientific analysis requirements and the nuances of the many engineering tests behind every satellite mission.
With the help of INSPIRE, NCU established the Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering (CAPE) to help GISS transitioned into its new role as the Graduate Institute of Space Science and Engineering and provide more hand-on learning opportunities for space technology.
A total of 12 teams from around the world joined the contest this year.