The Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) will host again this year the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2023 between 7-8 of October.
Over two days, participants from around the world will create in-person and virtual teams to solve challenges using NASA’s open-source data.
It is noted that during the last 11 years, CSEO saw over 6 global wins to Cypriot teams, in the international competitions CSEO hosts and mentors.
Last year saw Cypriot team Brute Force do the country proud by winning the ‘Local Impact’ category at the international finals with their ‘Moonquake Map for Planetary Scientists’ project. NASA invited the Cypriot team to visit the NASA Headquarters in Washington DC as part of their global prize.
This year, two exciting events will take place as the NASA Space Apps Challenge will be held during Cyprus Comic Con. Participants from all over the island are welcome to join the event – which, with the Organisation’s mentorship and high-calibre support, has achieved multiple international wins and successes for our country – while being surrounded by creators and fans from the worlds of fiction, fantasy and sci-fi.
‘After last year’s international win for Cypriot team ‘Brute Force’, we’re excited to work with our friends at Cyprus Comic Con to experience a unique creative and energetic environment that will help inspire participants of NASA’s Space Apps Challenge,’ Colm Larkin, CSEO’s Head of Innovation and Education, told CNA.
Diverse and collaborative teams of technologists, scientists, designers, entrepreneurs, and others work together in a 48-hour sprint to develop answers to some of the most pressing challenges in Space and facing planet Earth.
After the challenge, participants can still obtain support from CSEO’s Space Innovation programme.
“If we see that the winning team, after receiving their first prize and mentorship from us, further improves their solution and we identify in them a promising future, CSEO can incubate this team into a space start-up, help them in their career and possibly even offer them research positions within the Organisation’s space projects,” CSEO President George Danos told CNA.
This year, CSEO aims to also support and mentor anyone without space-related education or experience in the sector to engage with space.
‘The NASA Space Apps Challenge is a competition which is inclusive of everyone. This year’s challenges have an even wider range than previous years. Artists can utilise mediums like video to help the public better understand a range of space exploration topics. At the same time, there are also exciting and difficult challenges for engineers and scientific types to sink their teeth into that hold the promise to help solve problems we must deal with in our daily lives,’ explained Larkin.
The competition will begin at 11am, Saturday 7th October, and end at 4pm on Sunday 8th, with teams then pitching their presentations online for judges to assess.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday 11th October and will then proceed to the international round of the NASA Space Apps Challenge.
Participants can register to take part at www.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/nicosia/ and can contact CSEO on outreach@space.cy with any questions.
Source: Cyprus News Agency