Companies
In today’s era of presentations and social media, it’s easy to view companies as singular entities striving to dominate the market. Yet, in reality, particularly in engineering, companies are vast assemblies of diverse opinions and skills. These collective efforts shape technologies that transform the world.
At the GSDC, you’ll collaborate with others to form a company of 50-60 individuals, aiming to secure a contract for a new space settlement. You’ll be aligned with one of our fictional prime contractors, a large organisation with a unique history and expertise. Together, you’ll need to craft the optimal solution to meet the specific requirements of the Request for Proposal.
You will find out about your companies the day before the competition. Learning to work together and make the most out of different experiences and skills is critical to success both in the GSDC and in the working world.
Company Structure
Your company structure consists of three branches: executive, technical and advisory. You can hold roles within the executive or technical branches indicated but blue and purple people in the image below. The advisory branch of your company consists of experienced alumni and experts from industry and academia.
Advisors are volunteers assigned to your company to guide you through the competition without directly contributing to their proposal. They are your first port of call for all technical, organisational and operational advice. Ask them questions and work with them to set internal deadlines, check for compliance and comment on the presentation quality.
Client Representatives are volunteers who answer queries about the Request for Proposal, the compliance of designs and the quality of designs. They will be located in one place throughout the completion so that they are accessible to all companies. They will provide constructive criticism of design ideas that require development and ensure you return to your company with a clear understanding of what you must do next.
Executive Roles
Each company has three executives who act as the primary contact for your Advisors and the customer. Look through the role descriptions, responsibilities and strategies below to decide if you would like to be an executive of your company. Executives will use the following skills: time management, project management, empathy, active listening, leadership, effective communication, conflict resolution, selflessness, and delegation.
Note: You do not need all these skills to be an executive; these are skills you might possess or are interested in developing through the competition.
President
Role
The President is the leader of the company and has the final say on decisions that affect the direction of the company.
Responsibilities
The President’s duties include organising meetings for departments and the entire company, fostering collaboration across the company, and supervising the intersection of engineering and business activities.
Strategy
At the start of the competition, get everyone into their technical departments and have them select a Head of Department (HoD). You cannot do everything on your own so use the expertise of the HoDs and other executives to help inform your decisions. Whenever you hold meetings, keep a record of what is discussed so that information does not get lost. Avoid imposing your ego on the project. Create an environment where your company can design creative solutions. However, you must work with the executives to ensure the customer’s wants are present in your proposal. Hold company-wide meetings only when they are required to share critical information with everyone.
Vice President of Engineering
Role
The Vice President of Engineering is in charge of technical compliance and feasibility of the proposal.
Responsibilities
The Vice President of Engineering is responsible for ensuring that all designs fulfil the requirements outlined in the RfP, organising project groups, and aiding in the decision-making process for design solutions.
Strategy
Read through the whole RfP and understand the interdependencies between the technical departments. Work with the Heads of Department (HoDs) to form project groups with different technical expertise to solve specific problems outlined in the RfP. Aid the company is developing an initial concept for the settlement within the first 2-3 hours. Constantly communicate with the HoDs to understand where they may require greater assistance. Hold meetings to solve any interdepartmental or project conflicts. Once every 2 hours, assess the proposal against the RfP and suggest to the HoDs where they might want to focus their department’s priorities.
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Role
The Vice President of Sales & Marketing is in charge of compiling the proposal into an understandable format like a pitch deck.
Responsibilities
The Vice President of Sales & Marketing is tasked with creating the business proposal for the company’s bid, overseeing the design of presentations, and highlighting the unique selling points of your company’s settlement.
Strategy
Once elected, work to create a slide template and ensure all members of the company have access to the presentation. Encourage all members to put their ideas onto the presentation as they design. As the settlement proposal becomes more refined, work with the creators of each slide’s content to make it simple to understand. Suggest using graphics, diagrams, annotated images and less text to communicate information. Ensure the proposal is compliant with the Proposal Requirements outlined in the RfP. Work with the executives to select presenters for the final proposal. Work with each presenter to ensure they can present their section concisely and with clarity.
Elections
Executives will be selected via an election. Experienced volunteers, acting as Advisors and Client Representatives, will oversee the election of all three executive roles.
Our volunteers will invite participants to stand as candidates for each executive role, starting with the President of the company. Each candidate will be given 60 seconds to explain why they would be the right candidate for the job. Each executive will be selected by majority vote.
Tips for candidate
You need to highlight the skills that make you a good leader. Provide any experiences that make you suitable for the specific executive roles you are campaigning for. If you have competed at a previous SDC, focus on the skills and lessons you learned from that experience.
Tips for voters
It is important to vote for capable leaders to ensure strong, effective management. Good leadership is essential for motivation, decision-making, and overall success. Consider the character and interpersonal skills of the candidate. Choose wisely when voting for these critical roles.
Technical Departments
There are five technical departments which you can work within. Look through the role descriptions, responsibilities, skills and strategies below to decide which department you want to work in. Note: You do not need all these skills to be in these technical departments; these are skills you might possess or are interested in developing through the competition.
Each technical department shall elect a Head of Department at the start of the GSDC. This person is responsible for managing their department and keeping track of what tasks are assigned to each person. They should spend most of their time communicating with their department, project group, the Heads of other departments and the executive. Like the executives, the Heads of Departments must not impose their ego on the project but instead, foster an environment where everyone contributes to creating innovative solutions. Heads of Department will use the following skills: technical expertise in their department, time management, project management, empathy, active listening, leadership, effective communication, conflict resolution, selflessness, and delegation.
Mission Systems
Role
This department is responsible for the system, services and protocols that are required for the settlement to complete its core purposes during nominal and emergency operations.
Responsibilities
- Design processes that allow the settlement to reach initial operating capacity.
- Design systems and processes that allow the settlement to function successfully.
- Innovate to produce methods of increasing the efficiency of the settlement’s purpose over time.
- Provide contingencies for emergencies to maintain the settlement’s purpose.
Skills
- Systems thinking.
- Research and analysis of emergent technologies.
- Interest in future space systems and services.
- Interest in STEM
Strategy
Mission Systems will play a huge role in any successful proposal because they will prioritise creating designs that will enable the settlement to complete its purpose. Mission Systems must work with all departments throughout the day to integrate different design ideas from all departments to create multi-functional solutions (one solution that solves lots of problems). As a result, Mission Systems should present in all project groups.
Human Factors
Role
The most important part of any settlement is the people who will reside within it. Their safety comes before any stated commercial goals. The Human Factors department has to ensure that every person who will live on this base is in a comfortable environment.
Responsibilities
- Design internal layouts of the settlement to accommodate all residential, leisure and industrial facilities.
- Create systems and services to preserve the physiological and psychological health of humans.
- Ensure that residents and workers of the settlement are provided with the necessary facilities to thrive.
- Produce innovative and multi-functional solutions that enable a community culture to emerge onboard the settlement.
Skills
- Human-centric design.
- Visual communication.
- Interest in human and natural science.
- Interest in psychology and medicine.
Strategy
Human Factors will shape most internal design requirements for the settlement, requiring close collaboration with Structural Engineering until dimensions are finalised. This collaboration prevents later conflicts and redesigns. Human Factors must also work with all departments to ensure their designs support a happy and healthy living environment. This department should use its visual communication expertise to enhance all projects with compelling and informative graphics.
Operations Engineering
Role
Operations Engineering has the task of working out how the settlement will function on a day-to-day basis. This includes everything from life-support systems to managing multifaceted workflows and optimising processes.
Responsibilities
- Developing life-support systems for the residents in nominal and emergency scenarios.
- Designing systems and protocols to generate, distribute and store power and heat to run the settlement.
- Creating procedures to manage the settlement services to ensure continuous operation.
- Maximising the efficiency of how resources are used in the construction and operation of the settlement.
Skills
- Logistics and planning.
- Infrastructure design.
- Interest in civil, chemical and energy engineering.
- Resource management.
Strategy
Operations Engineering will be working with all departments to determine the required size and performance of life-support systems. Operations Engineering will be communicating with project groups but will likely work within their department at the start of the day. However, Operations Engineering has to integrate the design as a whole and should look to join project groups as soon as possible. Developing mathematical models to calculate the perfomance of operations sytems,. such as how much food, water and air will be required per day, will save time and provide flexibility to the company.
Structural Engineering
Role
Structural Engineering will design the physical element of the settlement and select the materials, methods and infrastructure required to construct the design. They will also provide the exterior views of the settlement to convey the company’s vision.
Responsibilities
- Design the external and internal structure of the settlement with input from all departments.
- Select the core materials and construction methods required to build the settlement.
- Work with all departments to locate and integrate their designs into the structure.
- Provide visual material for the presentation and to all members of the company so that there is consist quality.
Skills
- Physical intuition and spatial reasoning.
- Drawing or CAD.
- Interest in material science.
- Interest in mechanical, aeronautical and civil engineering.
Strategy
Structural Engineering has the crucial task of laying out a basic design of the settlement. At the start of the day, the external and internal structural design must be designed in a project group with all technical departments. This department must be the primary source of knowledge on the physics and geometry of the settlement (e.g. artificial gravity, available volume etc.). Furthermore, ensure that you are considering materials and construction methods from the beginning of the process as it will reduce the cost of the settlement.
Business & Finance
Role
Large infrastructure projects are very expensive and your customer must be convinced that you can deliver your proposal. Business & Finance is responsible for showing the financial and logistic feasibility of your settlement design.
Responsibilities
- Document costs and timeframe from technical departments required to construct and operate the settlement.
- Guide the technical departments on how the cost and schedule of the proposal can be reduced with design changes.
- Ensure that the settlement fulfils the business goals outlined by the customer such as the purpose of the settlement and revenue-generating activities.
- Highlighting the unique selling points of your company’s proposal to the customer.
Skills
- Cost estimation and management
- Project Scheduling
- Risk Management.
- Entrepreneurship.
Strategy
A member of Business & Finance must be present in all project groups to keep track of costs and develop plans for bringing designs to fruition. Considering cost and schedule reduction at the design stage is critical to realistically reducing costs. Developing spreadsheets automatically track costs and the duration of tasks to construct and operate the settlement as it will save time and provide flexibility to the company. Business plans should be considered as early as possible so that any derived requirements can be passed to the appropriate department or project group. Inform other technical departments and project groups what are the most expensive and time-consuming sections of the proposals that changes can be implemented.
Working to win
Everyone wants to win a Global Space Design Challenge. The chance to go to NASA is a fantastic prize and the technical, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills you gain from this challenge are invaluable. Creating a cohesive proposal that fulfils the RfP and delivers the customer’s vision of the settlement will win the challenge. But how do we do this? Your company has to use the specialised skills of the executive and technical departments to create this proposal. When you share your different perspectives on a problem, it results in a higher quality and cohesive solution backed by logical justification. The number one way to do this it to become cross-functional as quickly as possible.
Become cross-functional as quickly as you can
Functional Departments
You will start the competition in your departments. Each department contains specific skills so that they can complete specific functions. Many teams have only worked within their departments and have always encountered major communication issues. Less information is shared and there are more disputes between the departments. As a result, the real problems with the proposal go unaddressed and the final settlement design is inconsistent in quality. Functional departments are necessary at the start of the day so that the interdependencies between departments can be identified. Move away from this structure quickly.
Cross-Functional Project Groups
When you read the RfP, you will find many common problems that require collaborative solutions from multiple technical departments. Organise your company to solve these problems by forming Project Groups. These are cross-functional teams consisting of people from multiple or all departments. Each project group must solve a clear and defined problem. For example, this company has project groups creating radiation protection, transportation and cargo handling solutions. This allows all departments to have responsibility and ownership of designs that contribute to the final proposal. Furthermore, each department can contribute their unique skills and perspective to the same problem leading to unique solutions. Cross-functional project groups lead to higher quality and consistent proposals.