This year the Argentine space agency participated for the first time as a sponsor of the largest hackathon on the planet. In this note, professionals who served as jurors and mentors share their experience and we will tell you more about the winning teams from Argentina.
This year the National Commission for Space Activities (CONAE), within the scope of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation, was for the first time a sponsor of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge, along with eight other space agencies around the world. It was the tenth edition of the largest hackathon on the planet . CONAE organized the participation of professionals who work in different areas of the institution, 15 for the role of jury and 16 as mentors, for the 12 local venues of the event, distributed in different provinces of our country .
NASA International Space Apps Challenge is a proposal to foster vocations in science, technology, design, and engineering, promoting creativity and problem-solving skills through collaboration and critical thinking. This year it was held virtually on October 2 and 3. Argentine participants of various ages (mainly secondary and university levels, but also younger) competed with teams from around the world to solve the 27 challenges posed by NASA and propose solutions to real problems on our planet Earth or in space . For this they received the advice of the mentors on the use and development of space technology, using free and open data .
An enriching experience
Maximiliano Pisano, Head of the Massive Training Unit of the CONAE and institutional reference that carried out the coordination with all the local organizers , considered that “this experience helped us to form a great work team with professionals from the CONAE who participated as juries and mentors, so that from now on we can begin to generate challenges aimed at solving local problems of interest to Argentina. It was also interesting to meet the local organizers, in order to carry out hackathons from the CONAE in the future, and carry them forward together ” .
Gabriel Caballero, director of The Mars Society Argentina, local organizer of the event since 2018 at the Mendoza headquarters, then in San Juan, Rio Negro and Chubut , stated: “We love to see how multidisciplinary teams use spatial data to solve a problem of the humanity. Regardless of age, gender or profession, they do their best to present a real solution while having fun and learning . “
Caballero highlighted CONAE’s support for the event: “It provided us with a team of mentors and luxury juries. Counting on the advice and criticism of professionals who work in our space agency is invaluable for the participants and for us, in addition to the enormous motivation caused by seeing Argentines who are dedicating themselves to the space sector ” .
Yanina Bergero participated as one of the local mentors of the event , with the idea of helping and transmitting the learning she obtained in these six years that is part of the VENG SA company team for the operations of the SAOCOM Mission User Service Segment . “This hackathon was a very enriching and satisfying experience. Generating knowledge is very rewarding, but I believe that the added value is that it reaches people of all ages and segments, and much more, if this knowledge can be the “input” of possible developments for solutions to problems that affect us all. I hope that we can continue participating in this experience and supporting the curiosity and creativity of those whose dreams are only limited by the universe ” .
Mariela Aguilera Sammaritano, director of the Distance Education area of the Gulich Institute (CONAE-UNC) participated for the first time in this event as a jury, with the responsibility of evaluating teams from her native province, San Juan . “I met talented people who share an interest in technology and science, the desire to work as a team and share knowledge and experiences. I think that hackathons are a very interesting experience, since they promote collaborative work and the team is focused on proposing solutions for specific challenges in the short term. The whole work process becomes a continuous learning for participants, juries and organizing team ” , he said.“I was pleasantly surprised by each proposal, the strength and motivation that each team showed to present their response to the challenge, and also many teams were made up of teenagers who wanted to work,” he added.
From the National University of La Plata (UNLP), María Estefanía Farías Hermosilla was one of the organizers, for the third consecutive year, of the Space Apps Challenge in the city of La Plata . From this space, he thanked CONAE for the support of the event and the support provided by its professionals as mentors and jurors: “They injected us with extra energy to the local organizers. We had an incredible time and we were looking forward to coordinating more activities. Anyway, it was a great shared experience and we hope to meet again in the next edition ” .
Marina Compagnucci, a professional from the CONAE Mass Training Unit, who participated as a jury at the Mendoza headquarters , highlighted the joy and gratitude of the organizers. “They were very interested in carrying out other activities and generating new links in the future,” he said, adding: “It was exciting to see the willingness of CONAE and VENG staff to participate in the roles of jurors and mentors, and share the experience acquired in project management and technical knowledge ” .
Sebastián Matías Daguanno, from VENG’s Space Access Mechanics and Structures area, was a mentor for the teams at one of the Buenos Aires venues . “It was a very intense 48 hours since the teams have to interpret the information that is made available, propose a solution to a challenge, present their project by putting together presentations or videos and, in between, agree to distribute the tasks, manage time and resources “ , he commented, and valued that ” the quantity and diversity of ideas that arise is invaluable, and at the same time, some serve as a starting point to start small enterprises or, who knows, perhaps future companies “ .
Winning teams at each venue in Argentina:
During the last weekend the winning teams were announced in the different venues of the event in the country:
- Bahía Blanca : Space Discovery team , for the challenge “Let the seeds travel!” .
- Buenos Aires : Arstrium systems team , for the challenge “Let it go (without a bang!)” .
- Catamarca : Colmena team , for the challenge “Space for change” .
- Chubut : Space collector team , for the challenge “Mapping space debris in real time” .
- Córdoba : CloudHack 4.0 team , for the challenge “Identifying risks with science and communities” .
- La Plata : Evolution field team , for the challenge “Let the seeds travel!” .
- Mendoza : Coffee storm teams , for the challenge “The road to Mars: Can you keep your crew alive?” ; and LEO , for the challenge “What is Synthetic Aperture Radar?” .
- Morón : Aviónicos team , for the challenge “You are my Sun” .
- Río Negro : DUQ method team , for the challenge “Measuring the value of Earth observations” .
- Santa Fe : Octa aerospace team , for the challenge “Close space, close to you” .
- San Juan : Plantamanía team , for the challenge “Let the seeds travel!” .
The proposals of these teams will be evaluated by international juries to determine the global finalists . Then follows a final instance, where the ten global winners will be chosen. On a global scale, the competition involved 2,814 projects, generated in 162 countries .