2016 Dstv Eutelsat Star Award (Poster Category) – Emmanuel Ochenjele
Emmanuel Ochenjele was awarded for his depiction of a constellation of diverse satellites all contributing towards the advancement of solutions to challenges such as global warming, conservation of biodiversity and stable energy supply.
He will visit Eutelsat in Paris to understand how satellites are operated, as well as a satellite factory. Aobakwe Letamo from Botswana was the runner up in the same category. The four winning schools attended by the overall award winners and runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, TV set, PVR decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
Claudie Haigneré, Europe’s leading female astronaut and now special advisor to the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), chaired the jury of the Awards for the first time.
The Dstv Eutelsat Star Award is a unique pan-African competition that encourages young minds to explore innovative thinking in science and space technology.
The sixth edition showed sustained interest from African learners aged 14 to 19, attracting over 1000 entries from 20 countries. Levels of accuracy, creativity and originality were judged to be higher than ever before, both in the essay and poster categories.
Nearly 1,000 entrants were inspired by the topic of the essay category, encouraging them to envision the role played by satellite technology in the Africa of the future.
The winner in the essay category, Leoul Mesfin from Ethiopia, his entry particularly struck the judges as it considers continental and country specific needs and closely aligns to the topic.
He has won a trip to Paris and onwards to a launch site to witness a rocket blast into space to place a satellite into orbit.
