30 students from all over Europe have an opportunity this week to design
their own space station, in ESA’s unique Concurrent Design Facility. The
interdisciplinary approach of the task encourages the participation not
only of aerospace engineering students, but also architects and business
studies students.

The Space Station Design Workshop is being held at ESA’s technical
centre, ESTEC from 17 to 22 February and is open to students from all
ESA Member States. It is a joint initiative between ESA and the
University of Stuttgart. Throughout the week, the 30 graduate (or near-
graduate) students, selected from over 180 applications, have the
opportunity to learn and practice systems engineering applied to the
conceptual design of a space station and to network with ESA experts
and fellow space enthusiasts.

In the unique environment of ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) the
students will use advanced design methodology and custom-built tools to
carry out their task. They will be divided into two teams and will be
requested to fulfil a mission statement generated by ESA in close
co-operation with the university of Stuttgart. A public presentation
of the best design will be made on the last day of the workshop, Friday
22 February.

The CDF is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with a network of
computers, multi-media devices and software tools, which allows a team
of multi-disciplinary experts to apply the concurrent engineering
method to space mission design. It facilitates a fast and effective
interaction of all disciplines involved, ensuring consistent, high-
quality results.

Related articles

* ESA’s ISS homepage

http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/iss.html

Related links

* SSDW – ESA Education Office

http://www.estec.esa.nl/outreach/SSDW/

* SSDW – University of Stuttgart

http://www.irs.uni-stuttgart.de/SSDW/

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The Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) is a state-of-the-art facility
equipped with a network of computers, multi-media devices and software
tools, which allows a team of multi-disciplinary experts to apply the
concurrent engineering method to space mission design. It facilitates
a fast and effective interaction of all disciplines involved, ensuring
consistent, high-quality results.