How to deflect an asteroid!
The task sounds almost apocalyptic: four friends, isolated in a classroom, tasked with figuring out how to save humanity from an asteroid hurtling towards New Zealand.
That was the challenge facing Year 13 students Abigail Deng, twins Annika and Avika Singh, and Felix Wong when they took part in the 2026 New Zealand Engineering Science Competition recently.
Run by the University of Auckland's Department of Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering, the annual competition challenges students from across the country to solve a mathematical modelling problem. The team was among 286 teams nationwide given just eight hours to develop a solution. Working from their classroom with only their laptops, mathematical knowledge, and a pizza lunch, they had to analyse the problem, build a model, and submit a detailed report explaining their findings.
"The first thing you have to do is make assumptions," said Annika. "You need to decide things like the asteroid's density and define the variables you're working with. Before we could solve the problem, we had to simplify it."
A key challenge was determining what "safely deflected" actually meant.
"New Zealand is isolated and surrounded by water, but it's still vulnerable," Abigail explained. "Part of the task was defining exactly what would count as a safe deflection."
After researching planetary defence methods and developing their mathematical model, the team concluded that the asteroid would need to be diverted 600km clear of Earth to eliminate any risk of impact.
The students evaluated several potential approaches, including the use of nuclear explosives. However, they ultimately recommended a kinetic impactor, a spacecraft designed to collide with an asteroid and alter its trajectory.
"A nuclear option was something we considered," said Abigail. "But when we thought about the potential consequences, including fragmentation and radiation concerns, we felt the kinetic impactor was the better solution. It essentially crashes into the asteroid and sends it on a different path."
Alongside their calculations, the team created a visual simulation to illustrate their solution.
"We made a 3D simulation showing the asteroid approaching while Earth orbited the Sun, and then demonstrated how the impactor would push the asteroid away," said Avika.
The competition rewarded technical accuracy as well as clear communication. Teams were required to explain and justify every assumption, calculation, and recommendation.
"Doing the maths is really important," said Annika. "But it's equally important to communicate your reasoning. You can't just provide an answer. You have to explain how you got there and justify every step."
Using their model and assumptions, the team calculated that an asteroid approximately 1.4 metres in diameter could be safely deflected within the competition's constraints. While the result seemed modest compared with figures discussed by some other teams, the students understood that the value depended heavily on the assumptions built into the model.
The competition felt like the perfect way to round off their high school maths careers.
"We didn't have Abigail in our team last year, and we really needed her," shares Felix. "Having a fourth person working on a quarter of the project made a huge difference. It took the entire eight hours, and every team was rushing to finish at the end."
"Our main goal was actually to enjoy ourselves," Annika said. "We're best friends, and this was our last chance to compete together before finishing school. We wanted to do well, but we also wanted to make good memories."
Their efforts were rewarded when they were named one of only ten Highly Commended teams nationwide, an impressive achievement in a competition that attracts some of New Zealand's strongest mathematics and science students.
