Ghana is gearing up to host the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards for the second time since the competition’s inception in 2011.
Known as the country at the centre of the world, Ghana was also the first country to produce an overall poster winner during the inaugural DStv Eutelsat Star Awards. To date, the country has produced three overall winners namely; Michael Yeboah (2011), Lloyd Ossei Baffour (2013) and Ayawen Asuinura (2015).
Government dignitaries, the academic community, the scientific world and students will convene when MultiChoice Africa, together with their partner, Eutelsat, hosts the 8th edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards in Accra on the 13th February 2019.
Astronaut Paolo Nespoli will lead the continental awards judging, assisted by a panel of industry experts namely; Dr. Khamisi Kalegele, Director of Knowledge Management: Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology COSTECH, Dr. Angela Lamptey, Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences Lecturer: University of Ghana, Ms. Astrid Bonté, Director of International Affairs: Eutelsat, Mrs. Cheryl Uys-Allie, Director: MultiChoice Talent Factory, Ms Ernestina Appiah, Founder & CEO of Ghana Code Club as well as Mr. Cecil Sunkwa-Mills, General Manager: MultiChoice Ghana.
Through the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat hope to instigate innovative thinking amongst secondary school students; to create awareness of how science and technology is a part of everyday life; and to show the many ways that satellites impact development on the African continent.
In late 2017, the competition scooped a Better Satellite Award at the third annual Better Satellite World Awards gala dinner in London. The awards honour established companies along with disruptive innovators who make the world a more prosperous, healthier, better-educated, sustainable and inclusive home for humankind.
The overall winning entries to the DStv Eutelsat Star awards will receive the following prizes:
· Overall Essay Award – A trip for the winning student and their parent/legal guardian to Eutelsat in France and the attending of a live rocket launch in French Guiana.
· Overall Poster Award – A trip for the winning student and their parent/legal guardian to the MultiChoice offices and the South African Space Agency at Hartbeesthoek.
The schools attended by the overall award winners will be rewarded with a DStv installation, including dish, television, state-of-the-art DSTV Explora and free access to the DStv Education Package.
All details on the judging criteria, national prizes and finalists’ selection are available on the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards website: http://www.dstvstarawards.com/about.html
