Designing Beyond Earth
Participating in the Indian National and Asian Regionals Space Settlement Design Competitions pushed me into systems engineering on a massive scale. Working within large companies like Vereinigten Flugfahrten, our teams were tasked with creating complete, viable space settlements—such as Cassandras 1.0 (an Earth-Mars transit hub) and Astoria (an asteroid belt provisioning station).
My core responsibilities focused on structural design, automation, and interior spatial layout. Writing detailed technical proposals under tight 24-hour competition windows required balancing physical constraints with automated sub-systems.
Key Engineering Insights
- Automation Integration: Designing automated repair systems and environmental control networks forced me to think about software as an integral part of physical hardware.
- Cross-Disciplinary Standards: Structural calculations must interface cleanly with human life-support requirements, power distribution networks, and docking logistics.
- Modular Documentation: When drafting a 60-to-70 page technical document in a single day, clear modular interfaces between writing teams are essential to avoid conflicting specifications.
Systems engineering teaches you to see the entire machine before focusing on individual components.