Bangalore boy is regional winner in YouTube Space Lab contest

Mangaloretoday/ DHNS

Bangalore, Feb 22, 2012:  An 18-year old engineering student from here was today declared as the regional winner from India in the ’YouTube Space Lab’ global science competition.

Sachin Kukke, a first year mechanical engineering student of BMS College here, is one of the six winners in the 17-18 year old category of the competition to design a science experiment that can be performed in space, organisers YouTube, Lenovo and Space Adventures announced.

 

 

Out of these six winners, space agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in cooperation with Space Lab will provide two global winners, a chance to have their experiment conducted and live streamed on YouTube to the world using a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop from the international space station.

Sachin’s winning experiment was based on ferro-fluids and aims to measure their thermal conductivity in micro gravity, Google India Country Marketing Head Nikhil Rungta told reporters here.

The competition attracted participants from over 80 countries with the highest (40 per cent) entries coming from India, he said.

"We’re very excited to announce Sachin Kukke as the regional winner from India...  Through initiatives like these, we want students to get inspired and explore the wonders of science and technology", he said.

For the shy, reticent Kukke, the second son of a police head constable, "this is like a dream come true."

"I had never imagined that I would get to experience zero gravity in my life. I had hopes of making it to the final six but was not so sure. I am very excited to win this and I am really looking forward to meeting the other finalists and experiencing the zero gravity flight," Kukke said.