We here at Binnovative would like to thank everyone who participated on October in this year’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge (ISAC). ISAC is an international hackathon led and organized each year by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 2020 was the 7th year of this event, and featured some of the most diverse participation of any ISAC event so far! Over 26,000 hackers and creatives took part in the event across nearly 150 different countries; in all, over two thousand projects were submitted! Binnovative has been hosting the event in Boston (ISAC Boston) for several years now, and we were thrilled at the opportunity to do so again this year.
This year, due to the challenges that we’re all facing with COVID-19, NASA ISAC 2020 took the form of an all-virtual online event! Over the weekend of October 3-4 hackers from the Boston community and beyond formed teams to take on various problems proposed by NASA. At the conclusion of two days of hard work, the teams presented the results of their hard work to our panel of judges comprised of entrepreneurs and subject matter experts from the Boston/Cambridge area community. These judges were given their own challenging task: choosing two winners from the excellent projects our teams brought to the table!
After some deliberation, the judges made their decision! We offer our heartfelt congratulations to our local winners: teams Sundews and Sphagnum! Team Sundews and Sphagnum tackled the challenge “Sustaining Our Planet for Future Generations” with a proposal for a set of sustainable experiments aimed at evaluating the prospects of using plants to address the problem of combatting particulate matter and air pollution on earth and on spacecraft.
We’d also like to offer our thanks to the other two teams that completed the challenge: teams JAWAS and ZASA. Team JAWAS tackled the challenge “Better Together” with a presentation on the Model Minority Myth and the challenges that Asian-American Pacific Islanders face in the workplace, at school, and beyond. Team ZASA, comprised of students from the Z-Kai Learning lab faced not only challenges of language, but also the “Putting the ‘Art’ in Artemis” challenge with their project: “\MARSCRAFT/” which offers a virtual reality based look at what life might be like on mars.
This was our 7th consecutive year hosting the International Space Apps Challenge here in Boston, and it may have been our most unique year yet! Our teams produced some excellent projects, and we’re immensely grateful to everyone who participated in this year’s virtual event. This event would not have been the resounding success it was without the generous support of our sponsors. Also special thanks to consulate general of japan in Boston, consul general of Japan in Boston Mr.Omori for delivering the opening speech to support and encourage teams. On behalf of the organizers, participants, and the program coordinators at NASA, we thank you and your organization for your kindness and and generosity in supporting this endeavor, and we hope that you will support us again in the years to come!
Thanks as well to our judges, volunteers, and of course, our participants! We hope to see you all again soon!
NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2020 projects
https://2020.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston-ma/teams
Space Apps Boston official website