The finals of the eighth edition of the Model Glider Competition were held, yesterday afternoon, at the Côte d’Or National Sports Complex, in Côte d’Or. Frank Richard State Secondary School (SSS) and Doha Secondary School were crowned winners of Category 1 and Category 2 respectively.
This event, organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre (RGSC) in collaboration with the Aeronautical Society of Mauritius (AeSM), comprised 40 finalist teams representing several secondary schools in Mauritius.
The Model Glider Competition 2024 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.
For the finals, participants were required to showcase and fly their model gliders. Each team was allowed three flights, with achievement awards given based on the maximum range reached.
Winners for each category were awarded prizes as follows:
Category 1-Grade 10
- Captain Twomey’s First Prize of Rs 10,000 + Shield: Frank Richard SSS;
- Second Prize of Rs 6,000 + Shield: Doha Secondary School;
- Third Prize of Rs 4,000 + Shield: New Devton College
Category 2-Grade 12
- Captain Twomey’s First Prize of Rs 10,000 + Shield: Doha Secondary School;
- Second Prize of Rs 6,000 + Shield: Piton State College;
- Third Prize of Rs 4,000 + Shield: Shrimati Indira Gandhi SSS
Furthermore, a Certificate of Participation was awarded to all teams who submitted their logbook along with their model glider during the preliminaries.
Present at the prize giving ceremony were: the Chairperson of the RGSC, Dr Ellora Dhunnoo; the Director of the RGSC, Mr Aman Kumar Maulloo; the Chairperson of the AeSM, Dr Amrita Kundomal, and other personalities.
The Director of the RGSC outlined that the objective of this competition is to ignite the interest of secondary school students in the field of aviation and aeronautics. Mr Maulloo thus reiterated the RGSC’s commitment to organise science-related activities and projects so that students are provided with opportunities to engage in such extracurricular activities to boost their scientific understanding.
Speaking about the contest, for her part, Dr Dhunnoo highlighted that this initiative began in 2016 as a collaboration between 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. She encouraged students present to follow their dreams and aspirations in order to pave their way toward success.
As for Dr Kundomal, she elaborated on the hands-on experience provided by the construction and design of model gliders as these involve an experience that cannot be replicated in classrooms and textbooks, adding that it comprises a great deal of creativity. Engaging with model gliders can lead to numerous opportunities whether through a career in aerospace engineering, piloting, or, meteorology, as the skills developed through this competition will help in innovating and taking on new challenges, she pointed out.
