Catchy slogans, lucrative business plans, awesome apps and beautiful visuals are some of the results of the hard work of the 8 participating teams in this year’s Space Apps Challenge held at SBIC Noordwijk.
Space Apps Challenge is an international hackathon that invites people to use NASA data to develop solutions to all kinds of worldly challenges. This year the event was held in 187 locations across the globe.
Participants being welcomed in style // Team creation in progress
Mission Reports
After 32 hours of brainstorming, googling, designing and coding, Team Überwasser walked away with the first prize for their user-friendly app which collects all the data you need for a safe day at the beach: from weather and UV forecasts to rip tide warnings. They received, among other things, tickets to Startup Weekend Utrecht and a nomination for the global award.
Runner-up was Team Inferno with their solution for predicting and preventing wildfires, which included not only a fire detection algorithm for satellite images, but also a virtual reality experience, a drone controller and a web and mobile app.
Team Inferno’s fire detection algorithm in action
The audience award went to Team SlideSolutions for their application that allows people in risk areas to share information before and after landslides.
Further projects included a multifunctional space drone, a serious game against climate change, a tool to determine whether an urban area needs more green space, a method to detect water sources in remote areas and a comprehensive AI platform for smart city planning.
Save the Penguins – serious climate change game
You can find an impression of all submissions on the Space Apps Challenges website.
Down time
Although many teams worked until the small hours, the participants also had plenty of opportunity to relax. A professional masseuse was sponsored by ZUITS, healthy food and snacks were delivered to the door by a food truck and many off- and online games were played.
More photos and videos of the fun, games and hard work can be found on Facebook.
Special Thanks
The Space Apps Challenge in The Netherlands was organized SBIC Noordwijk and Verhaert Connect. Emma van Veen, Hans van ‘t Woud, Tim Heijmann and Wendy Mensink acted as mentors to help the participants shape their ideas.
Strict but fair jury in action // Proud mentors listening to one of the pitches
The event was supported financially, practically and emotionally by HE Space, NVR, Nodum, Wendy Mensink, Startup Weekend Utrecht, Zirkzee Group and ZUITS.
