The finals of the sixth edition of the Model Glider Competition were held, on Wednesday afternoon, at the Maryse Justin Stadium in Réduit. This event, organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre (RGSC) in collaboration with the Aeronautical Society of Mauritius (AeSM), comprised 26 finalist teams representing several secondary schools of Mauritius.
Present on the occasion, the Director of the RGSC, Mr Aman Kumar Maulloo, recalled that the objective of this competition is to ignite the interest of secondary school students in the field of aviation and aeronautics.
Speaking about the contest, Mr Maulloo highlighted that it was a joint initiative of the RGSC and one of the Founding members of the AeSM, Captain Richard Twomey, who had a long and distinguished career as a pilot of the Royal Air Force and a commercial aviation pilot for more than 30 years.
In addition, he indicated that the competition was geared towards the objective of providing students, irrespective of their field of study, the opportunity to namely: develop, construct and fly their own Model Gliders; encourage students to explore ideas and work in teams; develop creativity and innovation and; enable them to explore new ideas for their careers in the future.
Furthermore, the Director lauded the efforts of Officers from the RGSC and the AeSM who organised several online workshops in a bid to explain and advise participants on the general dynamic layout of the Model Gliders, their design, and construction. Moreover, the supervising teachers were also trained and assisted in the fine tuning of the Model Gliders by experts in the field, he said.
Mr Maulloo reiterated the RGSC’s commitment to organise science-related activities and projects so that students are provided with opportunities to engage in science clubs and in extracurricular activities in order to boost their scientific understanding.
He underlined that the RGSC has the mandate to promote science and technology in Mauritius. In this context, he enumerated some projects and activities organised, such as the unveiling of the bust of Yuri Gagarin at the RGSC last week; the launching of the Four-Minute Science Contest and; the setting up of a new Satellite Centre of the RGSC in Réduit in the near future.
Model Glider Competition 2021
The Model Glider Competition 2021 was open to all secondary students and divided into two categories, notably: Category 1- participants from Grade 10, and Category 2- participants from Grade 12, where they were required to work in teams of four under the guidance on one Supervising Teacher.
There were 49 teams for the preliminaries which was held on 06 October 2021 during which static examination of Design and Construction of the model gliders were evaluated.
Twenty-six teams were selected for the finals during which they were required to hand-launch and fly their Model Gliders. Each team was allowed three flights and the one which achieved the longest straight-line distance was counted for assessment.
Winners for each category were awarded prizes sponsored by the AeSM as follows:
Category 1-Grade 10
- Captain Twomey’s First Prize of Rs 8,000 + Shield: Sookdeo Bissoondoyal State College Students
- Second Prize of Rs 4,000 + Shield: Manilal Doctor State Secondary School Students
Category 2-Grade 12
- Captain Twomey’s First Prize of Rs 8,000 + Shield: Sookdeo Bissoondoyal State College Students
- Second Prize of Rs 4,000 + Shield: John Kennedy College Students
