These B.C. students are the only Canadians competing in NASA's next rover design challenge

The school year just got a lot more exciting for some bright young students at Princess Margaret Secondary School in Surrey, B.C.

The LeoCraft Design Team – made up of 10 students in grades 11 and 12 – is among 72 student teams selected to compete in NASA's 2024 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

LeoCraft will be the only Canadian team competing to design and build the best human-powered rover that can operate in space.

"I feel excited" said Jeevan Sandhu, the team lead. "(But I'm) kind of scared and nervous too because there’s a lot of work ahead of us."

Sandhu found out about the competition online last year and was determined to apply. This year, he rounded up some of his peers and successfully put his promising idea forward.

“It’s basically just bragging rights, but still, it’s winning a NASA design competition. That’s a pretty big deal. So yeah, we hope to win," he said.

The students submitted their proposal just hours before the deadline, and to their surprise, they were selected to compete.

“We know that other teams have been working on it for over a span of like four or five months. We started on it pretty late so we really didn’t have any hopes of getting in," said Jasmeet Dhaliwal, one of the team members. "When we got the email of our selection, we were honestly ecstatic."

She also highlighted the importance of female representation in STEM, as there are four girls on the team.

Another LeoCraft member, Grade 11 student Harmeet Kaur Sond, said the team is honoured to be representing Canada at the event.

“When you see the whole list and there’s 72 teams that made it, you see just Surrey, B.C., Canada. The pride really overtakes the pressure," said Sond.

But there's still a long way to go as the team is now working on a 30-page design proposal that needs to be submitted in a few weeks.

“These guys are great leaders. Very strong academically. And they searched for this opportunity themselves – and on top of their schoolwork. I don’t know where they find the time," said teacher and team sponsor Jagpal Uppal. "They’re absolutely amazing. We need to invest in them."

The team said they're in dire need of donations. Without more funding, they might not be able to compete.

They're seeking the public's help to raise $30,000 to pay for the materials to build the rover and the group's flight costs to travel to the competition, which is taking place in Alabama in April.

“I’ve been teaching for 20 years. A handful of times some students like this come around. We happen to be really lucky. We have a whole bunch this year," said Uppal.