BUSINESS NEWS
NASA SPACE SCHOOL SCHOLARS RECEIVE CERTIFICATES FROM MINISTER Two Ballakermeen High School students who won scholarships to the NASA United Space School this summer say the experience has changed their lives. Josie McGarrigle and Sam Lancaster, who have just started their final year of A-levels, spent two weeks in Houston as part of a scholarship scheme created by ManSat 15 years ago. It was the first time that the same school had provided both scholars since ManSat started awarding two scholarships in 2007. Josie and Sam joined teams whose task was to plan a mission to Mars. However, while the ‘day job’ was intense, it certainly wasn’t a case of all work and no play. ‘My time at space school was lifechanging,’ said Josie. ‘My expectations were surpassed at every turn. As an aspiring physicist it was a great experience as the schedule encompassed many astrophysics lectures.
tag and a game of football against the NASA “all stars” – we won, even though they don't like to admit it. I particularly liked the culture fair; it was amazing to see how each country expresses its own culture. Sam and I did a traditional Manx dance and a song from the Bee Gees, and made Manx fudge - and chips cheese and gravy – for our new friends.
Josie, who lives in Farmhill, added: ‘Being in such a close-knit team of people was such a rewarding experience and it creates a long-lasting bond; we now have regular Skype sessions and plan for a meet up next year for all 52 students.
Sam, who lives in Onchan, said: ‘The two weeks I spent at the USS are really going to be a tough act to follow in the remainder of my life. Every single aspect of the trip was enjoyable, from meeting several astronauts to making strong friendships with people from across the globe. My greatest highlight was being granted exclusive access to the Mission Operation Control Room at the Johnson Space Centre, used in the Apollo missions.
‘The activities included paintball, laser
I sat down at the flight controller’s desk
‘My team focused on rover and space suit designs and the experiments we wished to do on the surface of Mars. We worked on it from Monday-Friday, 7.45am till 5pm, with field trips and lectures to break up the sessions.’
ACSP OCTOBER SEMINAR TO EXAMINE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PROSPECTS FOR 2016 The Association of Corporate Service Providers has arranged a seminar on Thursday October 15 with Tom Richards and Henry Hunt of Thomas Miller Investment. Sponsored by DQ Advocates the seminar is titled: ‘Investment portfolio management through challenging political and economic times: market prospect in the year ahead’. Mr Richards is director, head of private investment management (offshore) in Thomas Miller Investment’s Isle of Man office. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and holds an MSc (Distinction) in international banking and finance. Mr Hunt holds an MA in Classics and is director, head of portfolio management, based in the firm’s London office. The seminar, which will follow the ACSP AGM, will be at the Upper Hall, Loch Promenade Church, Douglas with registration at 12noon for a prompt 12.30pm start. Subject to the number of questions and contributions from the audience it is anticipated the event will finish around 1.30pm. For bookings contact Antonia King, aking@acsp.co.im
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and it gave me the chills.’ The students thanked the Foundation of International Space Education, which runs the USS, their teachers at the school, mentors, host families and ManSat, for providing the scholarships. Please visit www.unitedspaceschool. org for more information about the USS and www.mansat.com for details of the company’s scholarships.
MANX TELECOM WINS BIG HOSTING CONTRACT WITH POKERSTARS PokerStars, operators of the world’s largest poker site, has agreed a three year hosting contract with Manx Telecom. A total of 48 data hosting racks and associated equipment will be relocated from their current location in Dublin to the world class Tier 3 Greenhill Data Centre (GDC) which opened last year. The contract has enabled Manx Telecom to proceed with building phase two of the GDC project. PokerStars has been one of the company’s hosting clients since 2005, and this new agreement is in addition to the hosting services already provided by Manx Telecom. Contracts for construction, mechanical and electrical works for phase two of GDC have been awarded to Isle of Man firm SCS (Stewart Clague Services Ltd) which will mean that it will be delivered using approximately 95% local labour. For more information about Manx Telecom’s data hosting solutions go to www.manxtelecom. com/hosting – for information about eGaming solutions go to www.manxtelecom.com/ business/egaming.aspx ON THE AGENDA