OC Caitlin Stevens (24), pictured here (wearing pink) along with her UK team mates, won the International Space Settlement Design Competition in July 2024. Dr Whittle and Mr Kelly, current teachers at Churcher's College, put Caitlin forward for the preliminary rounds in the UK Space Design Competition - following her success in these preliminary rounds, her adventures took off at the Kennedy Space Centre! Here Caitlin describes what happened next...

'In July 2024, I was honoured to be part of the UK Team for the International Space Settlement Design Competition. Florida was amazing! We were staying in Titusville which is about a half hour drive from the Kennedy Space Center, where the competition took place. There were 6 teams in our company; the UK, China, Australia, USA East and two teams from India. I was working in the Structural department and we all worked together really well, designing a moon base suitable for data centers. I wasn't a presenter, but the presentation did go really well and we ended up winning the whole competition, becoming World Champions! Spending 4 days at Kennedy Space Center in Florida was an incredible experience and I want to thank my wonderful team mates for making the competition so enjoyable, as well as Churcher's College for entering me for the preliminary rounds of this competition.'

Caitlin has been offered a volunteering role at next year's competition. We wish her all the best with her continuing studies in MEng Computer Science at Durham and our congratulations for competing in and winning the International Space Settlement Design Competition.