2017 NASA International
Space Apps Challenge

JOIN the International Team!

About NASA ISAC

The International Space Apps Challenge (ISAC) is an international mass collaboration that takes place in cities around the world. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to advance space exploration missions and improve life on Earth. NASA is leading this global collaboration along with a number of additional government collaborators and local partner organizations.

Website : Click Here

What is International Team?

During the hackathon, we bring together select participants to form teams comprising of people from Japan and Boston. These international teams are an exciting collaboration opportunity to hone your multi-cultural perspective and entrepreneurial mindset since team-members work collaboratively across the ocean.

Each International Team consists of about 5-8 participants from Japan and Boston (i.e. 3 from Japan, 3 from Boston) from very different cultural, technical and professional backgrounds. The participants from Japan will join you via communication tool such as Google Hangout and Skype.

FAQ

You don’t have to be a programmer. We form the International Teams based on the core skill sets to make balanced teams. Diverse backgrounds and viewpoints enable innovative outcomes.
You don’t have to be a bilingual. Participants from Japan can communicate in English, and we allocate at least one bilingual to each team for better communication.
Each team is recommended to have at least one web meeting to ensure that all members are on the same page.
The prizes are….to be decided
The winning team will be chosen by judges.
Organizers will allocate you to an existing team based on your core skill sets and language skills.
No. Organizers coordinate all team members based on preference for project idea, core skill sets, and language proficiency.
Each participant in the International Team will pitch their idea to other participants, and vote for their favorite ideas to work on in the hackathon. Organizers help the International Team members form teams during the Ideathon.
No, International Team participation is free.
Individual teams can decide their own communication tool. Facebook group talk, Google Hangout, skype were used last year.

schedule/Timeline

April 8 (Sat):
Event: Information Session
Venue: Brooklyn Boulders
Somerville MA

Each participant is highly recommended to have two ideas for Ideathon and create PPT slides (Max. 3 slides for one idea) for the idea pitch at the Ideathon and submitted to a designated folder. Prepare to pitch!

April 15, 7pm- 10pm :
Event: Ideathon
Venue: Cambridge Innovation Center (1 Broadway, Cambridge)

– Self introduction
– Idea pitch using the PPT file submitted in advance.
– Voting for your favorite idea
– Organizers allocate team members based on their favorites, engineering skill sets, and language skill. (Bilingual skills are not required. Organizers will coordinate balanced team.)
IMPORTANT: If you miss the Ideathon, you will be allocated to a team based on your professional skill set and language skill.

April 16 – April 28:
Team meetings as needed

Each team starts communicating and planning for the project. We’ve seen this lead to better team building and better project outcomes. Last year, most groups created a facebook chat group and communicated on chat and had skype or google hangout team meeting 1~2 times before the hackathon.
It will be the beginning of a super exciting cross-cultural experience !!!

April 29 – April 30:
NASA
International Space Apps Challenge!!

Each team works on their project.
IMPORTANT: Because of time difference between the U.S. and Japan, each team need to decide with which time they work on. For example, if the team work with Japan time, Boston members will start hackathon from Friday night on April 28 to Sunday morning on April 30.

Register for Ideathon & Hackathon Now!

Please indicate that you are participating in International Teams!
Remember that you need to come to Ideathon if you are participating in the hackathon

Last Year’s International Teams

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Past Participants’ Voice

I enjoyed working with a group of extremely talented individuals with diverse and global perspectives through change during this hackathon. I realized the beauty of collaborating on an international level to create projects from scratch. In addition, as more and more business opportunities will lie outside of Japan in the coming years, it was extremely valuable to experience working with team members from overseas despite language barriers and time differences.
Tomohisa Maruyama, Environment Inc. Founder, President and CEO (Tokyo venue attendee)
Being able to participate in the NASA ISAC as a mixed team brought whole new level of challenges and enjoyment. Working with people from multiple technical backgrounds, skill sets and cultural diversity brought with it new and fascinating solution to a common problem.John Hrovat, Progammer at Meditech (Boston venue attendee)

About the organizer

Binnovative is a non-profit organization which strives to provide opportunities to communities in Japan and Boston to foster their entrepreneurial mindset as well as multicultural perspectives. Binnovative organizes and leads the Boston venue of the ISAC for the third time this year.

Learn More About Binnovative