STEAMSPACE Education Outreach presented the 5th annual Cities in Space conference and competition, hosting close to 400 hundred students from 4th to 12th grade in Austin, TX. These student teams gather annually to present their research and projects focused on the development of space habitats and emerging technology, competing, and collaborating with one another, learning about the creation of new worlds, and the issues and considerations necessary to build surviving, thriving communities wherever they may be.
For the last two years, students have been joined by virtual teams from Pakistan, adding international peers to their understanding of broad cultural perspectives. Moving forward, students will interact with a growing list of international teams. Partnering with Huston-Tillotson University (HT) and held on the university’s campus, and including students and faculty from the Huston-Tillotson Department of Natural Science and the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Rocket Engineering Lab, Cities in Space brought these STEAM/STEM and space-inspired students together in an atmosphere of higher education. This allowed them to interact with peers, mentors, and advisors throughout the event.
Students heard from an all-star line-up of speakers from Firefly Aerospace, the Heinlein Trust, SpaceKids Global, Explore Mars, Ball Aerospace, and others. They interacted one-on-one with scientists, engineers, NASA experts, and other New Space leaders, including the competition judges. Speakers and judges circulated among the student booths, listening to each team’s presentation of their concepts and their research and their development.
Winners of Cities in Space® were presented awards during closing ceremonies, and will have their projects sent to the surface of the Moon on an upcoming Astrobotic Technology mission.
Cities in Space 2020 Winners include:
3D Model Category:
High School
1st Place: Townview School of Science and Engineering Magnet – TEAM Spontaneous Optimism
2nd Place: St. Michael’s Catholic Academy – TEAM SPARTA
Middle School
1st Place: Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders STARS – TEAM 3
2nd Place: Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders STARS – TEAM 8
Emerging Tech Category:
High School
1st Place: Allen Academy – TEAM Sirius Inner Space Resources
Middle School
1st Place: Brenham Junior High – TEAM Nexus Nerds
2nd Place: Brenham Junior High – TEAM Space Rangers
Video Category:
High School
1st Place: Allen Academy – TEAM Copernicus
Middle School
1st Place: Barton Middle School – TEAM Thomas Medellin
Virtual Competition:
1st Place: E Services and Technologies / Pakistan – TEAM Ninja Brothers
Young Pioneers 4th grade Non-Competing Teams:
Arts & Social Sciences
Honorable Mention: Lagos Elementary – TEAM LES 1
Science & Engineering
Honorable Mention: Pioneer Crossing Elementary – TEAM PCE 5
For more information, visit Steam-space.org.
