ISSDC

ISSDC Summary

The International Space Settlemend Design Competition is a design competition hosted at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each year, contestants compete in regional tournaments to try and acquire a position at the international competition, where teams are generally much larger and the stakes are even higher. There are typically 4 teams competing and roughly 40 people on each team. The competition begins when the request for proposal is released which contains all the details and requirements for our settlement. It ends two mornings after and teams have to have given a USB stick containing the team’s presentation to the head judge at 7 AM.

My Experience

I’ve competed in the ISSDC 3 times now, the first two being online and the most recent one being in person. In the most recent competition, I decided to join the automations department and was responsible for designing every robot and storage facility the judges would see on the final presentation.

It was a very unique experience, and one that many industry workers go through every time a project deadline approaches. It was more than common for people to not sleep at all some days to be able to submit the presentation on time as was the case for me and my team.