£10k support package on offer to 2015 Copernicus Masters Challenge winner
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*UPDATE* The Copernicus Masters, Europe’s leading Earth monitoring competition, has extended the deadline for applications to 09:00am on Monday 20 July 2015.
12 May 2015
The Satellite Applications Catapult is once again supporting the Copernicus Masters competition for 2015, with -10,000 worth of business support on offer to the winner of its Smart Cities and Intelligent Transport Challenge. The competition is being run in partnership with Innovate UK and the UK Space Agency.
The Copernicus Masters is a Europe-wide competition that aims to stimulate innovation in the application of satellite imagery, and in particular using data delivered by the European Copernicus system.
A growing global population is placing ever increasing demands on critical infrastructure along with the need to deliver sustainable development. In the Smart Cities and Intelligent Transport Challenge, the Catapult is looking for innovative solutions that use satellites to take advantage of this real and growing opportunity, and find ways to reduce this burden.
Participants are encouraged to explore the integration of Earth observation imagery with in-situ data to create a new product or service. In-situ data sources could include near-real or real-time information on traffic, pollution, social behaviour, crowdsourced data, and city development.
The winner of the Catapult challenge, along with all the challenge finalists, will be put forward for the final judging round where an expert panel from across Europe will select the Copernicus Master 2015, awarding an additional £14,500 ($20,000) investment and a satellite data package worth around £43,000 ($60,000).
In 2014, Stevenson Astrosat, based in Scotland, won the Catapult’s Transport and Logistics Challenge with their Transport Sentry innovation. It uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical satellites to rapidly examine road and rail infrastructures that network operators have identified as potential problem areas, and quickly report back damage to the operator.
The University of Nottingham was named the overall 2014 Copernicus Master for developing ‘PUNNET’ – a novel procedure aiming at land stability monitoring and mapping, which offers millimetre-level precision, and enables large-scale coverage of land deformation that occurs due to mining, groundwater extraction or drilling.
Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, said: “The Copernicus Masters competition is a great way for entrepreneurs and innovators to demonstrate and showcase their ideas and solutions, so that they may be developed into a commercially viable service. At the Satellite Applications Catapult, we are delighted to again be involved in this exciting initiative.”
The competition is simple and free to enter; you just need to register your interest and then complete the online application form. The competition closes for entries on 13 July 2015.
To find out more about the Copernicus Masters, the Catapult is hosting a series of Discovery Workshops around the UK where you can meet the team to discuss your idea in confidence and receive technical, business and legal advice.
To speak to someone directly about your idea, or if you have any queries about the competition process, please contact the competition team at ukesnc@sa.catapult.org.uk or call 01235 239637.
