Sixth grader Sydney Vernon is the Junior Winner in the Future Engineers 3D Printing in Space Challenge

1/16/2015

Open Window sixth grader Sydney Vernon is the Junior Winner of the Future Engineers 3D Printing in Space Challenge. A 3D printer will be donated to Sydney's school on behalf of her accomplishment.

You can read more in this NASA news article or in this article in Bellevue Reporter.

After being announced a finalist (one of the top 4 3D designs in the country) in the Future Engineers 3D Printing in Space Challenge, Sydney had an impressive Skype interview Thursday by a judging panel including astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle, astronaut Reid Wiseman, and Deanne Bell from Design Squad.

Students in Innovation & Tech Lab Director Adrienne Gifford's sixth grade tech class have been learning 3D modeling and printing this year. Ms. Gifford encouraged her students to enter a design into the Future Engineers 3D Printing in Space Challenge. Earlier this year, NASA launched it’s first-ever Zero-G 3D Printer to the International Space Station. To celebrate, NASA created a challenge for students to submit 3D modeled “space tools” for a chance to win prizes, including a 3D print on the International Space Station.

See picture and description below of Sydney's "Space Planter".

SPACE PLANTER

This is my 3D designed Space Planter tool. It would be used to grow plants on the ISS while being really water conservative. First, put the disc into the "mouth" of the creature. Tie a string to each of the ears and dangle them down through the hole in the disc into the lower part of the monster. Fill this lower part with water. Fill the top part with dirt and plant a seed. The plant will actually suck up any water it needs from the two strings dangling into the water, so it is very water-conservative. Also, it looks like a cute monster!
-Sydney Vernon

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Sydney's interview with astronaut Reid Wiseman
Image credit: Sydney Vernon

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