Year 9 student and STEMgineer, Kate Nguyen, was the winner of the Life on Mars challenge, hosted by the UNSW Young Women In Engineering.
This challenge invited participants to explore the potential for human life on Mars by designing a conceptual habitat capable of supporting human existence.
Kate’s innovative design addresses the unique conditions of Mars—its atmosphere, temperature, radiation, and gravity—while considering sustainability, essential resources and innovative technologies.
“My design is an underground habitat for future inhabitants of Mars within a pre-existing cave on the planet,” Kate explains. Her design incorporates carefully placed mirrors to channel sunlight into the caves to allow plants to grow underground.
“The habitat will be constructed by robots sent to Mars before humans, allowing the habitat to be almost complete and liveable when humans arrive.”
Kate said she found out about the opportunity to extend her engineering and design skills through Meriden’s STEM community. At Meriden, students who are interested in STEM can join the STEMgineer emailing list to receive newsletters that provide information on external opportunities to explore and extend their skills and knowledge.
