Cookstown rocket scientist wins top award

A former Cookstown man is “over the moon” at winning the prestigious Great British Disruptive Entrepreneur of 2020.
Dr Rajan Bedi showing off his award.Dr Rajan Bedi showing off his award.
Dr Rajan Bedi showing off his award.

Dr Rajan Bedi, who is chief executive officer and founder of Spacechips, said his company has worked very hard to establish itself in an international market.

Spacechips designs the electronics used on board satellites and spacecraft to address societal challenges such as digital divide, climate change, food sustainability, disaster management, telemedicine, smart cities and Covid-19.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The company has delivered more than 200 orders to 70 customers in 25 countries across 18 time zones.

Rajan is a former pupil of Cookstown Primary and High School.

He is the author of Out-of-this-World Design, the award-winning blog on Space Electronics, which has been viewed over three million times.

After receiving the award he said: “Today we live in a satellite-enabled age, the spacecraft orbiting overhead are not science fiction, but part of a critical, life-support system which we depend on every day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Satellites collect vast amounts of data giving us a detailed understanding of what is happening in our world.

“They deliver awe-inspiring imagery in high resolution, broadband global communication, increased positional accuracy and observe the fragile eco-systems of our beautiful planet.

“Today, 57% of the world’s population, four billion people on our planet, do not have access to internet creating a Digital Divide, disempowering and excluding communities, fuelling illiteracy and poverty.

“Constellations of satellites are being developed to provide global internet.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Global population is predicted to increase to almost ten billion people by 2050 requiring food production to increase by 70%.

“At the same time, the amount of land available to grow crops is declining rapidly, with 95% of the world’s fare grown in soil. Earth-Observation satellites are being used to remotely photograph fields and measure the productivity and health of plant.”

Dr Bedi said during Covid-19, space technology has been used to contain the virus.

“For example, the use of satellite navigation to control drones to disinfect hospitals, the use of Earth-Observation satellites combined with local databases to identify Covid-19 hot-spots and which neighbourhoods are infection free and low risk,” he continued.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This information is used to plan the commuting routes of key-workers as well as the delivery of food and medicines to vulnerable people using drones. Satellite-based telemedicine is being used by doctors to provide remote healthcare using video calls to respect social distancing and space-based internet is allowing millions of families and businesses around the world to stay in touch and continue operating.”

--- A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you

Related topics: