VIJAYAWADA: A first-year student of Civil Engineering, IIIT Nuzvid, Reddi Koti, topped the National Space Society’s (NSS) Space Settlement Contest- 2019, and bagged an opportunity to address the International Space Development Conference- 2019, which is going to take place in Arlington, USA.
However, the 18-year-old, a native of Cheepurupalli village of Vizianagaram district, who hails from a small-time agricultural family, is looking for people to sponsor his tour. As many as 12,899 students from across the country participated in the contest and a total of 2,691 registrations were made for it.
This year, the NSS took over the administration of the contest on NASA’s behest and conducted the contest using a the award force cloud software.
Koti’s OPUS project emphasised the importance of dealing with the pollution present in space, near the earth. “My project is unique as nobody thinks about the pollution generated by man-made satellites and the debris that is left behind by them to pollute the environment. I researched on this subject and submitted my project report in February,” Reddi Koti said.
“I was overwhelmed to know that I topped the contest in which hundreds of students participated. I am looking forward to presenting my idea in International Space Development Conference-2019. It will be a dream come true for me,” Reddi Koti added.
Koti’s mentors, family and friends also dream the same for him. However, the arrangement of Rs 1.5 lakh, the amount required to fly to and fro the destination, is a hurdle for them. “My father is a small farmer in Vizianagaram district and my mother is a housewife. It is tough for my family to bear such a huge expense.
Managing to get a simple meal every day is also difficult for us. I wish I could get some sponsors otherwise my journey towards my dream would stop here,” said Koti.
He has to submit his papers on the project in the International Space Development Conference-2019, USA, from June 7 to June 9.