02/07/2018
Ireland win the 2018 European CanSat Finals in The Azores
July 2nd, 2018 – A weekend of strong competition in the European CanSat Finals ended with the Irish team, Marist College Athlone, emerging victorious. The finals were held at the Regional Fund for Science and Technology (FRCT) on the island of Santa Maria, Azores. The Marist College team secured their place in the European finals on winning the national finals earlier this year.The CanSat Ireland competition is an ESERO Ireland collaboration, co-funded by the European Space Agency and Science Foundation Ireland. It is coordinated and managed byCIT Blackrock Castle Observatory. Alan Giltinan, of CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, is the national coordinator of CanSat Ireland, and is delighted to learn that Ireland have secured a win in the European Finals:
“Congratulations to Marist College on winning the European CanSat Final 2018. It is a testimony to all their hard work and dedication and a fantastic achievement for the students, staff, mentors and everyone involved. At BCO, our vision is to create STEM literate students while developing and coordinating programmes which prepare students for a career in STEM. The CanSat programme brings this vision together by combining many aspects of STEM while incorporating vital career elements such as presentation skills and information interpretation. By winning the European Final, the students have highlighted that Ireland has an up and coming student base well equipped for STEM and SPACE careers, such as the emerging New Space sector, while showcasing Ireland’s emerging workforce as a powerful competitor".
Marist College’s victorymarks the end of an intense series of competitions that began in October 2017 during Space Week. All participants in this year’s competitions have performed admirably, and the standard of scientific literacy on display has been truly impressive.