Francine Mazala, overall winner of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards 2013, addresses the attendees of the gala ceremony where the 2014 winners of this pan-African competition were announced. Photo: Eutelsat
[Via Satellite 02-11-2015] Eutelsat and MultiChoice have announced the winners of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, a pan-African competition to promote interest in science and space technology in young African students.
The fourth edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, organized by MultiChoice and Eutelsat, attracted more than 1,000 entries from 14 countries. The winner in the essay category, Joseph Mahiya from Zimbabwe, won a trip to Paris and onwards to a to witness a satellite launch. The runner up in the essay category was João Nuno Freire Melo from Angola who won a trip for two to visit MultiChoice facilities and the South African National Space Agency near Johannesburg. The theme for the essay category was to imagine yourself as a satellite looking down on Earth and consider the key issues shaping Africa and how satellites can help development.
In the poster category, first place went to Hannah Kasule from Uganda who will visit Eutelsat in Paris. Lesley Chakurira from Zimbabwe was the runner up in the same category. The four winning schools attended by the overall award winners and runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, TV set, Personal Video Recorder (PVR) decoder and free access to the DStv education bouquet.
The international jury assessing this year’s entries was chaired by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli with Dr. Jacob O Ashong, director and higher education consultant at the Ghana Science Project and Planetarium; Christine Mugimba, head of spectrum management at the Uganda Communications Commission; Professor Steve Simukanga, vice chancellor of the University of Zambia; as well as a representative from MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat.
“The DStv Eutelsat Star Awards shines a spotlight on the potential of the many inspired and motivated students in Africa who are passionate about the development of their continent and the opportunities for progress,” said Nespoli.
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