Binnovative

Congratulations to all participants of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2023. We are proud to have hosted our 10th annual hackathon with the past three years being in a virtual setting on 10/7,8. Thanks to the virtual setting this year, 135 people registered from the Greater Boston area and beyond and 13 teams successfully completed projects. The event was officiated by the Consulate General of Japan in Boston this year as well. Each team showed their style, skill set, and creativity as they solved today’s toughest real-world challenges posed by NASA. The solutions included leveraging data to predict solutions to drought, developing gamification for planetary tourism, 3D terraform mapping, and producing consumer devices that play the music of the cosmos. Participants used data from NASA, hardware such as RaspberryPi, and the Kintone API to create and  visualize their solutions. Please check out https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2023/locations/boston-ma/?tab=teams  for more details about each fantastic project! Following each pitch was a judging Q&A session by our three esteemed judges. Team Renaissance Quintet won First Place. They built several original IoT devices that play data translated into music, with the goal to build understanding that space data is more than visual images and provide opportunities for blind individuals to experience space through sound and music. We wish them the best of luck at the Global hackathon judging event.  We would also like to congratulate our second winner, Team O.D.D.S. for developing a data application solution that would help bring international data into a user friendly tool. We were impressed by all the teams creative presentations and loved to see all the innovative thinking throughout the hackathon.   Finally, we’d like to thank our great judges, the Consulate General of Japan in Boston and our sponsors who supported us hosting ISAC Boston 2023 successfully.  We hope all participants and people involved enjoyed the exciting 2-day journey with us and look forward to seeing everyone again next year! <NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2023 projects> https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2023/locations/boston-ma/?tab=teams   <Awards> 1st prize – Renaissance Quintet 2nd prize – O.D.D.S Best Use of Kintone API – 1st – Renaissance Quintet Best Use of Kintone API – 2nd – O.D.D.S Amazon AWS Award – O.D.D.S Amazon AWS Award – Titan Terraforming Local Award – Journey to the center of the solar system   <ISAC Boston 2023 Judges> Branden Allen,a Senior Research Scientist at the Harvard College Observatory Shinji Sato, an IT industry veteran with over three decades of experience in Silicon Valley. Naotake Murayama, Startup Chief of Figuring it Out, investor, board member, and mentor to founders.  Sameer Kenkare, Corporate VC and Innovation group at AWS Startups Mirza Samnani, a robotics engineer at NASA JPL    <Opening remarks> Kotaro  Suzuki, Consul General of Japan in Boston Masami Onoda, Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas.   <Closing remarks> Branden Allen,aSenior Research Scientist at the Harvard College Observatory   <Sponsors> Platinum sponsor : Amazon AWS Gold sponsor : Kintone Titanium Sponsor : Ogawa Coffee USA Gold Sponsor : Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) Silver Sponsor : Toyota Friend Sponsor : Manabi-ya Boston Supported by : Consulate-General of Japan in Boston (在ボストン日本国総領事館)   <Event website> NASA International Space Apps Challenge（ISAC）2023（https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/ ） NASA International Space Apps Challenge（ISAC）BOSTON 2023（www.spaceappsboston.org/ ） https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2023/locations/boston-ma/  

NASA Space Apps Challenge 2023 Event Page : http://spaceappsboston.org/ NASA International Space App Challenge (ISAC) is an international mass collaborative hackathon focused on space exploration that takes place over 48-hours in cities around the world. Binnovative will once again be host to this year’s Boston location for the challenge, and we look forward to seeing what the bright minds of our community can come up with this time! 2023 is the 10th anniversary that NASA ISAC is held in Boston! To participate in our virtually hosted event, form your own team with your friends. Please make sure that all of your team members register. The event provides an opportunity for all participants to improve coding skills, get involved in Boston’s hackathon community, cultivate team collaboration skills, and… have a blast with your teammates!! This event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions which are applicable to both life on Earth and life in space. NASA expects to see a wide scope of talents: programmers, designers, artists, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, developers, and more. Anyone with an eye towards creativity and the motivation to make those ideas a reality is welcome! Past Awards ISAC Boston 2022, second year winner of ISAC Global Winner in Art and Technology category. Team Earth, Wind and Flare Team Earth, Wind and Flare developed an interactive tool to represent data from the Parker Solar Probe to enable us to learn more about solar effects (aka space weather). The team’s submission, “Where you can Uncover the Invisible”, was an Internet of Things (IoT) device that publicizes space weather and its impacts on the Earth in an interactive and artistic way. They considered key elements for the device including a matrix board to display space and Earth weather, how to integrate data from multiple sources, and what visual and acoustic effects would be the most engaging. ISAC Boston 2021 local finalist team won ISAC Global Winner in Art and Technology category. Team Jimmy in the box Team Jimmy in the box was WOW-ed by how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) uses origami-like folding and unfolding for its launch and deployment. Using their diverse skills and experience, this project builds computerized origami models for JWST in order to showcase its amazing design and “satisfying” deployment steps. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER !

Boston team win second annual NASA Space Apps Challenge 2022  Global Award （日本語版は英語版の後にあります） A team of Boston won the ‘Art and Technology’ award at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge for the second year in a row.    This event, managed by the NASA Earth Science Division, is the world’s largest hackathon bringing together over 31,561 people from 323 locations and 5,327 teams around the world. The hackathon, which takes place globally in the fall and has been organized by Binnovative in Boston since 2014, was held virtually Oct 1-2 of this year.   Teams across the world collaborated with each other to build innovative solutions that can solve our world’s problems. The winning Boston-based team, ‘Earth, Wind and Flare’,  developed an interactive tool to represent data from the Parker Solar Probe to enable us to learn more about solar effects (aka space weather).    The team’s submission, “Where you can Uncover the Invisible”, was a Internet of Things (IoT) device that publicizes space weather and its impacts on the Earth in an interactive and artistic way. They considered key elements for the device including a matrix board to display space and Earth weather, how to integrate data from multiple sources, and what visual and acoustic effects would be the most engaging. We are proud to have team ’Earth, Wind and Flare’ has been awarded ’Art & Technology Award’, one of ten such categories in the International Space Apps Challenge 2022.  Team Project Page: https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/2022-challenges/creative-data-display/teams/earth-wind-flare/project   In our 9th consecutive year hosting the International Space Apps Challenge here in Boston (ISAC Boston , ISAC Boston local page ), we are grateful for the community that organized, judged, sponsored, participated, and volunteered this year! We thank you all for your kindness and generosity in supporting this annual event, and look forward to next year.   For media inquiries contact: Eriko Nishimoto, Founder/CEO, Binnovative eriko@binnovative.org （日本語版） NASA ISAC Bostonのローカル優勝チームがNASA ISACグローバルハッカソンにおいて、Art & Technology部門賞を二年連続で受賞しました。 NASA Earth Science Division主催の同イベントは世界最大規模のハッカソンで、ボストンローカル大会(ISAC Boston , ISAC Boston local page )は2014年より毎年Binnovativeが運営主催しており、今年は2022年10月1日～2日に開催しました。2022年NASA ISAC グローバルハッカソンには世界323地域より5,327チーム、合計31,561名の参加、ボストンローカル大会では10チーム、合計50名が参加しました。 そのうち、Global Winnerは10の各部門に1チームずつ選ばれ合計10チームに与えられる狭き門で、Art & Technologyはそのうちの1部門です。 地域を超えて編成された各チームがグローバル課題の革新的解決策の創造に取り組んだ結果、ボストンローカル大会では”Earth, Wind and Flare”チームが優勝チームに選ばれました。同チームはParker Solar Probeより入手したデータを反映させるツールを作り、宇宙の天気など太陽の及ぼす影響を可視化出来る様にしました。 Where you can Uncover the Invisibleと呼ばれるこのツールは、宇宙の天気とそれが地球に及ぼす影響を相互に且つ美しく発信するIoT機器です。宇宙と地球上の天気を表示する基板、複数の情報源からデータを統合する仕組み、そして有効的な視覚と音響効果の3点がこのツールを支える重要な要素になっています。 ボストン大会(ISAC Boston) で優勝した本チームは、ボストン大会のローカルオーガナイザーよりNASA ISACのGlobal 審査へとノミネートされ、Global 審査を見事に勝ち抜きました。 私達BinnovativeはNASA ISACグローバルハッカソンの10部門の内、Art & Technology部門で”Earth, Wind and Flare”チームが受賞したことを大変嬉しく誇りに思います。また、IASC Bostonの優勝チームが、2012年、2022年と2年連続でArt & Technology部門を受賞したことも非常に喜ばしいことです。 受賞チームのプロジェクト詳細ページはこちら https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/2022-challenges/creative-data-display/teams/earth-wind-flare/project BinnovativeはNASA ISACハッカソンのボストンローカル大会(ISAC Boston)を9年連続で運営していますが、この場を借りて今年も運営、審査、協賛、参加、ボランティアに携わって頂いた全関係者の皆様に改めて感謝の意をお伝えしたいと思います。同イベントへ様々な形でご協力を頂き、誠にありがとうございました。来年もまた皆様とお会い出来ることを楽しみにしております。 本件お問合せ先はこちら Binnovative Founder/CEO 西本会里子 eriko@binnovative.org

We conducted a survey right after the NASA ISAC Boston 2022 event to get the real voices of our participants. Here we would like to share the results from the survey respondents (N=18).    Survey Participants by Occupation As more than 80% of the participants were students at school, most of the teams consisted of a mixture of students. Those who were graduate and undergraduate students majored in Computer Science & Astronomy, Biomedical Data Science, UX Design and Political Science, Engineering and Education and International Trading, etc. They enjoyed working together in a team with people from other schools and backgrounds.   Survey Participants by Age   We welcomed a variety of generations from pre-teen to over 40. Such a diversity in life experience and the stage of life reflected a wide variety of interest and focus on the project.   How satisfied are you with the hackathon experience overall?   We are pleased to hear that most participants were highly satisfied with the hackathon experience overall. One of the participants gave us feedback saying “A cool hackathon and pretty glad with how everything went. Wonderful challenges and a wide range of tools.” One thing to improve is to provide more effective support in matching teammates as some participants had difficulties in finding a teammate in a virtual setting.   How satisfied are you with the mentor support? We are also glad to know that most participants found technical and specialized support from our mentor helpful in developing their ideas within these intense 2-days. Thankfully, one participant left us a comment saying “Your judges and mentors are extremely kind.” Once again, we as organizers of ISAC Boston 2022 are truly honored to have talented, aspiring participants. We are grateful to see that all participants enjoyed the hackathon overall. We will reflect this feedback to make our future event even more attractive and satisfying to everyone. Looking forward to seeing more talents next time!    

(日本語は英語の後に続きます) We would like to give a big round of applause to all participants of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022. We are proud to have hosted this annual hackathon for the 9th consecutive time this year with the past three years being in a virtual setting. Thanks to the virtual setting this year, we were able to welcome 27 members in 10 teams from the Greater Boston area and beyond. The event was officiated by the Consulate General of Japan in Boston this year as well.   Each team made a tremendous effort attacking the tough problems posed by NASA with creativity and skill. The solutions included quantifying droughts, developing platforms designing 3D extraterrestrial life with a high stress tolerance, 3D living space for astronauts, producing electricity via thermoelectric effects and flywheel + siphon mechanism, and creating a multimedia abstract style video. Participants used data from NASA, hardware such as RaspberryPi, and the Kintone API to create and  visualize their solutions. Please check out https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams for more details about each fantastic project!   Following each pitch was a judging Q&A session by our three esteemed judges. Team Earth, Wind & Flare won First Place. They built an original IoT device using 64×64 LED matrix boards to publicize space weather and its impacts on Earth. We wish them the best of luck at the Global hackathon judging event. We would also like to congratulate our second winner, Team Interstellar UX/UI. They developed a centralized platform with better UX/UI curating information on earth observation data which are currently scattered everywhere on the Internet. We were impressed by all submissions and loved to see all the innovations born through the hackathon.   Finally, we’d like to thank our great judges, the Consulate General of Japan in Boston and our sponsors who supported us hosting ISAC Boston 2022 successfully.    We hope all participants and people concerned enjoyed the exciting 2-day journey with us and look forward to seeing everyone again next year!   NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022 projects https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams   ISAC Boston 2022 Judges:  Michael Caine (Director of Hardware Engineering for Shopify Logistics, formerly 6 River Systems) Branden Allen (Staff astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory) Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas)   Opening remarks: Setsuo Ohmori,Consul General of Japan in Boston Christopher E. Carr (Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)   Closing remarks: Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office)   ISAC Boston 2022 Sponsors: Mitsubishi Corporation Americas Kintone Ogawa Coffee USA Toyota USA Z-kai USA Inc.   Supporter: Consulate-General of Japan in Boston (在ボストン日本国総領事館)   Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/     （日本語） NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022にご参加頂いた皆様、誠にありがとうございました。Binnovative主催のISAC Bostonも今年で9回目を迎え、直近2回に引き続き今回もオンラインで無事開催することが出来ました。オンライン開催であった為、ボストン以外の遠隔地からの参加者を含めて全10チーム、総勢27名の方に参加頂きました。また、今年も在ボストン日本国総領事館のご協力を頂いております。   各チームそれぞれ独創的なアイディアとスキルを駆使して、NASAより提示された課題解決に取り組まれました。具体的には、NASAの各種オープンデータ、RaspberryPiなどのハードウェア、またKintone APIなどを活用して干ばつ状態を定量化、可視化する、宇宙特有の環境下でストレス耐性のある生命体を3D設計する、宇宙飛行士の居住空間を3D設計する、熱電効果やフライホイールとサイフォンの原理を使って発電する、マルチメディアから情報抽出した動画を作るなどの多様なアイディアが生まれました。各チームのプロジェクト内容詳細については、ぜひhttps://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teamsをご参照下さい。   各チームのピッチ、3名の素晴らしいジャッジの方々からの質疑応答を経て、今年はEarth, Wind & Flareチームが優勝しました。同チームは宇宙空間の天気やその地球への影響を発信する64×64 LED盤を使った独自のIoT機器を作りました。Local優勝チームとしてGlobal hackathonコンペでの受賞もぜひ期待しています。また準優勝は、現状インターネットに散在している地球のあらゆる観測データを集約する、高UX/UIデータプラットフォームを作ったInterstellar UX/UIチームが受賞しました。受賞チームを含めた全チームが素晴らしい成果を出されており、このハッカソンを通じて生まれた全てのアイディアに敬意を表したいと思います。   最後に、今回ISAC Boston開催にご協力頂いたジャッジの皆様、在ボストン日本国総領事館の皆様、スポンサーの皆様、改めてサポート頂き深謝申し上げます。参加者及び関係者の皆様全員が2日間のイベントを楽しんで頂けておりましたら幸いです。また来年もこのイベントでお会い出来ることを楽しみにしております！   NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022 projects https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams   ISAC Boston 2022  審査員:    Michael Caine (Director of Hardware Engineering for Shopify Logistics, formerly 6 River Systems) Branden Allen (Staff astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory) Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas)   オープニングリマークス: Setsuo Ohmori,Consul General of Japan in Boston Christopher E. Carr (Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)   クロージングリマークス: Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office)   ISAC Boston 2022 スポンサー: Mitsubishi Corporation Americas Kintone Ogawa Coffee USA Toyota USA Z-kai USA Inc.   後援: Consulate-General of Japan in Boston (在ボストン日本国総領事館)   Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/