“Of the 81 semi-finalist teams we named, nearly 10 percent hail from the Isle of Man,” said Jennifer Fotherby, executive director of the Spirit of Innovation Challenge. “We are working to grow this competition beyond U.S. borders and unite students from around the world. Having such an outstanding turnout from the Isle of Man in our second year of collaboration speaks volumes about the students’ abilities.”

The seven Isle of Man high school teams selected as semi-finalists include the following: Phoenix Group (Ballakermeen High School in Douglas); Re: ACTION and Omega (both teams from Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel); and FOOGLE, Energy Wave, Hydro Systems Technology and SyMo (all four teams from St. Ninian’s High School in Douglas).

Each team conceptualized an innovative idea that addressed one of three categories –aerospace exploration, clean energy, or health and nutrition – and used the online community to work with mentors and complete an abstract describing their product.

As semi-finalists, they will now take their idea one step further and develop a business plan, technical plan and graphical representation of their product or innovation. They are vying for one of the top 15 finalist positions, which will qualify them to advance to the
Innovation Summit, hosted at NASA-Ames Research Center (Moffitt Field, Calif.) in March where they present their innovations and compete for awards and commercialization opportunities. Finalists will be named by Feb. 16, 2012.

“Increasing student interest in STEM is critical to our future ability to support real-world issues, such as preserving the planet, discovering cures for diseases and exploring the universe,” said Chris Stott, chairman and CEO of ManSat, a corporate partner in this year’s Spirit of Innovation Challenge.

ManSat first invited the Conrad Foundation to the Isle of Man in fall 2010 to present the Spirit of Innovation Challenge to its schools. With three teams traveling to California to present at the 2011 Innovation Summit, the company was so impressed that it sponsored a trip for Fotherby to travel to the island to generate participation in this year’s Challenge among students and teachers. The effort paid off, with a total of 60 teams registering for the 2011-2012 competition.

“We are thrilled our students took an interest in the competition and performed so well,” Stott added. “A few of our teams advanced to the finals last year. We’re confident this year’s group will prove even more competitive.”

The Conrad Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fundamentally shifting how science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are taught in K-12 schools. Founded in 2008, the organization is based on the rich legacy of the late Apollo 12 astronaut and entrepreneur, Charles “Pete” Conrad, the third man to walk on the Moon. Pete got his “Moon shot” because an educator took him under his wing and guided him to a future of possibilities.
Nancy Conrad, Pete’s wife and an education activist, launched the Conrad Foundation to continue this tradition of mentoring students and steering them toward their own unique “Moon shot.”

For more information, visit www.conradawards.org.

https://www2.sch.im/groups/snhsscience/

2011-2012 Spirit of Innovation Challenge Handbook

Jen Fotherby, the Executive Director of the Conrad Foundation visited St Ninian’s today to tell Year 12 students about this year’s challenge.  A flyer and handbook is attached to give further details.  The competition is open to students from Year 10 through to Year 13 and the categories for the 2011-2012 programme are:

Aerospace Exploration

Clean Energy

Health and Nutrition

For further information please see Mr Shipley.

25 May (a.m.) – Additional Science (B3, C3, P3)

27 May (a.m.) – Science (B1, C1, P1)

7 June (p.m.) – Additional Science (B4, C4, P4)
7 June (p.m.) – Biology (B4, B5, B6)

15 June (a.m.) – Science (B2, C2, P2)
15 June (a.m.) – Chemistry (C4, C5, C6)

17 June (p.m.) – Physics (P4, P5, P6)

The Conrad Foundation’s Spirit of Innovation Awards have, for the first time, been extended to the Isle of Man thanks to a link-up with local space company ManSat Ltd.

Eight students will compete in the USA after winning their places in the final round against 480 others around the world.

After months of research, six teams of secondary school students submitted design and development plans for products they believed would solve challenges of living in the 21^st century to the Conrad Foundation in the USA. Two teams focused on aerospace exploration, three on clean energy and one on cyber-security.

After initial judging from a panel of global experts at the Conrad Foundation, three teams have made it through to the world final of the awards. The teams making the trip to the States are announced today as Kinergy from Queen Elizabeth II High School, Lennox Aerospace from Ballakermeen High School and Team Pe-U from St Ninian’s High School/Isle of Man College.

‘The students will travel to the Innovation Summit at NASA’s Ames Research Centre in April and represent the Isle of Man, competing against 24 teams from North America,’ said Ian Longshaw, School Improvement Adviser for the Manx Curriculum.

Kinergy comprises Year 12 pupils Robbie Daniels, 17, Angus Hopkinson, 17, Andy Walker, 16, and Atif Chohan, 16, and their coach was Niall Howell-Evans, teacher of science, physics and maths. They designed a wristband capable of providing emergency power for a mobile device that is charged by the natural motion of the body.

They said: ‘We are very excited about the opportunity that has been given to us. We all worked together really hard and we are very happy we have reached the final stage of the competition. We aim to keep the team spirit we have throughout the next few months.’

Luke Farrugia and Benjamin Chung, both 15, make up Lennox Aerospace. Their design was for a flatpack, space-assembled, multifunctional structure that can be made as big or as small as desired. They were coached by head of physics Russell Miller, who said all the credit lay with the boys. Luke said: ‘I’m very excited. This is a great opportunity because NASA is right at the heart of the aerospace industry.’ Ben added: ‘People joke about rocket science but it’s what I want to do and I’m thrilled to have this chance.’

Team Pe-U is made up of Isle of Man College student Sizwe Mtshali, 18, and Liam Carter Hawkins, 18, who is in Year 13 at St Ninian’s High School. Liam was one of two Island students who made the trip to NASA space school in Houston, Texas, last summer thanks to an annual sponsorship scheme from ManSat. The pair’s idea was for an eco-friendly, biodegradable toilet designed for a cradle-to-cradle, clean energy-producing system. Their coach was Andrew Shipley, assistant head of science at St Ninian’s.

Sizwe and Liam

They said: ‘We intend to take as much away from the experience as possible as it is yet another incredible opportunity. We are hoping the simplicity and multiple global benefits of our innovation are enough to win a Spirit of Innovation Award and to initialise and expand our company.’

‘We are excited to host three teams from the Isle of Man at our Innovation Summit,’ said Nancy Conrad, Chairman of the Conrad Foundation. ‘These students have submitted outstanding proposals and we can hardly wait to meet them.’

Finalists will compete to receive a ‘Next Step Grant’ of $5000 and be recognized as Pete Conrad Scholars. The Next Step Grant will be shared by the schools, teachers and students to encourage the continued development of the teams’ products.

ManSat, a global commercial space corporation which has its headquarters in the Isle of Man, has been mentoring the teams since they embarked on their challenge in October. Ian Jarritt, Isle of Man Director of ManSat, said: ‘This is a tremendous achievement for the Isle of Man entrants to have done so well against international competition. This award complements the Space School scholarships for our secondary school students that we and the Department of Education and Children have been sponsoring since 2001.

‘Our objective is to maintain the Isle of Man’s prominence within the commercial space arena and success such as this certainly serves to consolidate our position. My best wishes go to each of the teams for further success in the next round.’

Remember that there will be GCSE examinations for both Year 10 and Year 11 in the first couple of weeks of the new term.

Year 10 students need to revise units B1, C1 and P1 – Exam. on the 13th January, 2011 in the morning

Year 11 students need to revise either for the Additional Science examination (B3, C3 and P3 – exam. on the 19th January, 2011 in the morning) or the Separate Science examinations (Units 1, 2 and 3). Remember too any resits you may have.

Have a good, safe and relaxing holiday.