IO, Yogyakarta – Gadjah Mada Aerospace Team (GMAT) from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta, was awarded a second place in the United States Student CanSat Competition 2020 held virtually by the American Astronautical Society (AAS). Winners were announced virtually on June 16, 2020, following a series of rigorous eliminations begun in September 2019.
The top prize for the container and science payload competition was secured by a team from the United States, while third position was comprised of students from Mexico. The competition was attended by hundreds of participants from countries including the UK, India, Turkey, Poland, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia, Canada, Costa Rica and Azerbaijan.
The GMAT team consisted of Kenrick Tjandra, Indra Budi Setyawan, Muhammad Dyffa, Mario Jaya, Wildan Purnomo, Mahatma Wisesa, Nico Renaldo, Luqman Alhelmy, Muhammad Nur Ilmi, and Nafisah Hasya; they designed a rocket load vehicle with Delta Wing Glider mission, under the guidance of Catur Atmaji, S.Si., M.Cs., and Dr. I Made Miasa, S.T., M.Sc. “In this competition each team must be able to create a Delta Wing Glider-type rocket load vehicle, designed to send atmospheric data and conduct a series of separations at a certain altitude,” Kendrick Tjandra told UGM Public Relations, Thursday (18/6/2020).
He explained how selection begins with registration moving to a preliminary design review and culminating in a critical design review. The assessment was conducted by judges from US Naval Research Laboratory. “There are hundreds of participants from all over the world who registered; by the final stage there were only 40 finalists,” he added.
The proud achievement was the payoff of the intense preparation of the team, working since 2019; the team not only followed the research and development of the vehicle through design, material selection and manufacturing stages, but also carried out a number of feasibility tests and functional prototype rides before the functional ones. “I am proud to be able to offer an achievement that carries the name of UGM and Indonesia,” he concluded.
Initially the CanSat 2020 competition was planned to be held in Virginia, USA. However, because of the long-running COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was run virtually. (*/est)