Tech expert John Ahearn's innovative solution to navigate the extreme environments of Antarctica and outer space. Source: John Ahearn
Tauranga man John Ahearn once dreamed about exploring Antarctica - little realising it would take him so far.
The childhood dream has led the tech expert to design an innovative solution to navigate the extreme environments of Antarctica and outer space.
His design has earned him the place of regionalfinalist in the NZ Space Challenge and his team will attend the grand final of the national challenge in Christchurch today.The concept is the brainchild of GPS Control Systems, and group mastermind Ahearn said the mission was to find a new way of transporting large-scale science projects further into the polar region than ever before.
Ahearn's team designed a global navigation satellite system to help heavy-tracked vehicles detect and avoid perilous ice shelf crevasses while traversing the Antarctic ice fields - and potentially some of outer space's trickiest pitfalls.
"A convoy of heavy-tracked vehicles can drag many more tonnes of equipment than a plane can carry, and can travel in almost any weather," he said.
"The constraint is ice-shelf crevasses, which our navigation system tackles."
Ahearn said other positives were minimising crew stress and fatigue, delivering equipment safely and on time as well as compliance with the Antarctic Treaty.
GPS Control Systems beat other applicants from Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty to emerge as one of the five NZ Space Challenge regional finalists.
A screen grab of an innovative GPS system, a finalist in the NZ Space Challenge. Photo / Supplied
Ahearn said he may have a competitive advantage over other teams because he recently visited the Antarctic on a field trip as part of a post-graduate certificate in Antarctic studies at the University of Canterbury.
"My assignment was about machine control applications in the Antarctic, which focused on guiding machines across the ice shelf to the hot-water drilling site."
He chose the topic because it related closely to his professional experience – and hoping it would open an opportunity to return to Antarctica with his workmates to install one.
"They were of course, very envious of my trip," he said of teammates Wade Riley from Hawke's Bay and Russell Van de Laak of Pukekohe.
Wade Riley. Photo / Supplied
"So yes, it would appear I have a competitive advantage from thinking about this problem for a long time and having been down there.
"I like to think it was my creative and innovative mind at work but maybe it was just very good luck," he said.
As well as real-life experience on the Antarctic, Ahearn said he had been a fan of the icy continent for a very long time.
"My interest in the Antarctic comes from reading the stories of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration when I was about 8 years old," Ahearn said.
"The journeys of Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton and others were absolutely amazing.
"Not only did they explore but they did science on the way," he said.
Now, more than a century since the first Antarctic expeditions, the NZ Space Challenge brings together some of the brightest minds from across the country to use space data and intelligence to solve navigation issues on the ice in the Antarctic.
The challenge was established by two space enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, Eric Dahlstrom and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom, who have forged international careers in the space community and have chosen to settle in New Zealand, establishing SpaceBase with fellow co-founder Rich Bodo.
SpaceBase has joined with economic development agency ChristchurchNZ to deliver the national challenge. The winners would be announced in Christchurch todayas part of the Techweek'18 event, Extreme Environments – from Antarctica to Space.
ChristchurchNZ chief executive Joanna Norris said New Zealand had a vibrant tech sector full of world-class ingenuity, as clearly demonstrated by the finalists.
"These world-leading solutions to the challenges presented by Antarctica and space are not just good for our country, but innovation that's good for the world."
TodayAhearn and his team will join the five other regional finalists to pitch their Antarctic navigation innovations to a panel of national and international judges, with $40,000 going to the winning designer.
