SEDSIC2008 Proposal

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(work in progress)

Dear UKSEDS,

From 22-23 September, SEDS-India organized the 2007 SEDS International Conference (SEDSIC) immediately before the International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad. It was a grand success with over 350 students attending, including a meeting between leaders of several national SEDS chapters.

In 2008, IAC will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 29 September to 3 October. I think this would be a remarkable opportunity for UKSEDS to host the international SEDS community for SEDSIC2008.

Would UKSEDS consider hosting SEDSIC2008?

As director of the 2005 SEDS-USA National Conference, I understand the time investment required to be a student and conference leader. With that in mind, I submit to you this proposal for SEDSIC2008. As an adviser to the international chapter of SEDS, SEDS-Earth, I don't wish to dictate SEDSIC, but to provide you any resources you may need and to help you engage the SEDS international community.

Best of luck with the 2007 UKSEDS National Conference. I look forward to hearing about it afterwards. If you ever need any help, please call on me. It would be a pleasure to help you as much as you will let me to celebrate the 20th anniversary of UKSEDS in 2008.


Best regards,
-Kirk Kittell
SEDS-Earth Adviser

Contents

SEDSIC2007

SEDS-India hosted SEDSIC2007 at the Vellore Institute of Technology from 22-23 September 2007. With over 350 students in attendance, it was the largest SEDS gathering in the 27-year history of the organization.

The conference consisted of several interesting components:

  • Pre-Conference CubeSat Workshop -- teaching students how to initiate and run a CubeSat program
  • Astro Expo: Exhibition cum Career Fair -- informational booths from professional organizations and companies
  • OneSpace: Model Making Contest -- outreach program to high school students
  • Cosmo Guide: Career Talk -- panel consisting of professionals in the space industry answering questions from students
  • Space Ventura: Space Business Plan Competition -- opportunity for students to refine their entrepreneurial skills
  • Rendezvous: Star Party -- a star party on top of the eight-floor roof of VIT's Tech Tower
  • Nakshatra -- paper and poster presentations with well over 100 students participating
  • REDCOM: HAM Radio -- experts from ISRO demonstrating how to use HAM radio
  • Dialect: Keynote Sessions -- presentations from guest speakers in the Indian space industry
  • Lunar Rover Design Competition -- design competition with ISU scholarship prize
  • SEDS National Chapter Review -- meeting of SEDS national chapter leaders
  • SEDSAT-2 Design Meeting -- meeting of the SEDSAT-2 design team (note: SEDSAT-2 team should be completed with design by SEDSIC2008)
  • Rock-It: Rocket Design Competition -- water rocket launches and egg payload landings

More information about the event is available at SEDSIC2007 Post-Event Report.

Proposal for SEDSIC2008

General Program

The general program of SEDSIC will be the domain of UKSEDS. It is important that the theme and feel of the conference is a function of the host country. My job is not to tell UKSEDS what to do, but to support the program. That said, I offer these only as recommendations:

  • By suggestion from UKSEDS alumnus Mark Bentley, the UKSEDS National Conference could be held earlier in the year than usual and serve as the international conference.
  • Hosting a technical session -- posters and papers -- as in SEDSIC2007 helps to get support from sponsors and universities (i.e., professors will let their students miss classes) and encourages students to exchange ideas.
  • 2009 will be the International Year of Astronomy: http://www.astronomy2009.org/. Perhaps there can be some collaboration with the IYA association.

CubeSat Workshop

With help from Rei Kawashima from the University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC) and Prof. Yasuyuki Miyazaki of Nihon University, both of Japan, a four-hour CubeSat workshop was held for 100 students at SEDSIC. It was very successful and we have plans to host it again in 2008. It would be a privilege to include it again in the SEDSIC program; that is, we will host it before IAC whether SEDS is a part of it or not, but we would prefer to work again with SEDS. For more information about the 2007 program, go to SEDSIC2007 CubeSat Workshop.

Student Planetary Rover Program

Another successful program from SEDSIC2007 that I recommend to be repeated is the lunar rover design competition. The competition -- decribed in more detail at SEDSIC2007 Design Competition -- was the conceptual design of a series of small lunar rovers. The winner of the competition received a half-tuition scholarship to International Space University, worth approximately 8,000 euros.

The contest is being upgraded for 2008, and again I would like it to be a part of a SEDS program. First of all, the contest will be upgraded from design only to design-and-build. Also, immediately prior to SEDSIC2007, the Google Lunar X PRIZE was announced; the director of Space Projects for the X PRIZE is a SEDS alumnus, and they have agreed to work with SEDS on this contest. American Astronautical Society (AAS) will host the event and again ISU will provide a scholarship. A small number of companies have given positive responses to provide travel funds for participants.

All of these factors should lead to a successful program, and I welcome you to take part of it and receive credit for hosting it. But don't worry: I will again help as the program administrator, saving UKSEDS from the burden of the day-to-day work.

Resources

Students

As an adviser to SEDS-Earth, I can assist UKSEDS with communicating with and getting support from SEDS students around the world. Also, I have applied to be a member of the Space Education and Outreach Committee for the International Astronautical Federation, which may be useful to UKSEDS in getting further publicity to students, especially in Europe.

SEDS and ISU Alumni

In 2007, SEDS and ISU alumni donated thousands of dollars to fund representatives of the various SEDS national branches to attend SEDSIC. In this manner, the first face-to-face meeting of the current generation of international SEDS leaders occurred. This money was raised on a limited basis with only a few alumni contacted. Given the success of SEDSIC2007, I estimate that at least $10,000 of travel funding can be arranged in 2008.

In addition to travel funding, the alumni community served as technical reviewers for SEDSIC paper and poster abstracts. If desired, this function can be repeated and also expanded by utilizing the AAS student mentoring program, which I will be heading as AAS VP-Education.

Other Resources

One of my duties as a SEDS adviser is to assist with seds.org server administration. In 2007, two major resources were used:

I would recommend that the SEDSIC email list be used again in 2008 since it already has a large number of subscribers from 2007. The use of the SEDSIC web address is up to you.

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