Boeing Backs Canadian Satellite Design Challenge

The Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society (CSDCMS) is pleased to announce that it has received a $50,000 funding contribution from The Boeing Company for continued support of the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC). The competition, featuring Canadian and international universities, challenges student teams to design, build, and test a small operational “cubesat” satellite.

“We are extremely grateful to Boeing for their continued support,” said Larry Reeves, President of the CSDCMS. “We are now in our third offering of this competition, and Boeing has been a prominent contributor since the beginning. Thanks to Boeing’s support, we look forward to being able to continue to provide a challenging, interesting, and rewarding educational experience for Canadian — and international — university students.” The CSDCMS now hopes to be able to match that funding from Canadian businesses.

Boeing’s support of the competition continues the company’s long-standing relationship with Canada. For more than 90 years, Boeing has been engaged with Canadian industries, universities and other organizations to expand opportunities for the country’s current and future workforce and to add value to the Canadian economy. The CSDC collaboration supports Boeing’s commitments under Canada’s Industrial & Technological Benefits policy, which guides defense and security contractors in creating strategic relationships with Canadian organizations to produce long-term benefits throughout the country. 

Also involved is Mitacs, a national, not-for-profit organization that brings together academia and the private and public sectors, to develop cutting-edge tools and technologies through applied research. “Mitacs is pleased to support the partnership between the CSDC and Boeing,” said Duncan Phillips, Vice-President of Strategic Enterprise at Mitacs. “Through this collaboration, university students will have the opportunity to work on projects that have the potential to contribute to Canada’s knowledge-based economy and grow our space industry.”

The CSDC is an innovative competition that provides participating students with valuable experience in managing and completing a challenging technical project. The two-year competition also includes technical presentations and reviews, professional visits to Canadian space companies and facilities, and hands-on workshops under the mentorship of experts from Canadian space industry. The university teams attract students from a broad range of engineering and science backgrounds, as well as those specializing in management, commerce, and education.

Another important element of the CSDC is educational outreach. Teams are required to give educational presentations to elementary and secondary school students to inspire them to pursue further education or careers in science and engineering.

The current competition, which began this past September, involves nine teams from Victoria to Montreal, and also includes students participating from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

About the CSDCMS:

The Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society is a federally-incorporated not-for-profit organisation, co-registered in British Columbia and headquartered in Vancouver. It is managed and operated by a volunteer Board of Directors.

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