First produced in about 1760, the Sextant was the first device of its kind that had the ability to tell you where you had been, where you were and would give you confidence that you could chart an accurate course to where you wanted to be.  It was a marvel of multiple technologies.

Why is the Sextant a metaphor that SATAI uses for awards?  The answer lies in some of the many wonderful qualities of the Sextant.

Technology : The Sextant was a state-of-the-art technology instrument in its time.  It was physically constructed of temperature and humidity stable metals, precision optics, carefully graduated and calibrated scales, mechanical vernier dials and adjustments and assembled with a mechanical precision that was amazing given the tools and techniques of the period.  People who owned a Sextant were considered highly educated.  They were in possession of a with an operation bewildered the common person.

Collaboration and Teamwork : The creation of the first Sextants was made possible only through significant collaboration and teamwork.  It involved astronomers who understood the movement and positions of celestial bodies, mathematicians who created algorithms to predict future celestial data values; mariners who provided the feedback on the accuracy of measurements; skilled craftsmen that could build and assemble the devices; printers that could reproduce the navigational almanacs; and, chronologists that created the accurate timepieces required for Sextant measurements to be meaningful.  None of them alone could have created the original device.

Innovation : It was the confluence of innovation in many fields that made the Sextant possible, much like many of the technology breakthroughs of today.  Mariners were faced with a very real problem.  How to accurately find their current position on the high seas?  This was critical in order to return to a place they had been before, for navigating to places where they had never been, and marking new locations (both good and dangerous ones) for others as they discovered them on our planet.  Innovation was required to solve the life threatening problem of the day.

Guidance and Leadership : Knowing where you are and where you are going is a key element of leadership.  The mere possession of a Sextant in its early life branded one as a leader, one who dared to brave uncharted lands and waters, one who could guide his crew into dangerous waters and return to do it again.

Therefore the Sextant Award is used by SATAI because of the metaphor of technology, collaboration and teamwork, innovation and guidance, and leadership.  Congratulations.