The student-led 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge hackathon runs October 19 to 21. Illustration credit: NASA/KSC
This Friday, teams of students and aspiring scientists will collaborate to build solutions to challenges facing space science and exploration during the 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge.
The free event is being organized by University of Alberta students, including Nitya Khetarpal, undergraduate science student and president of The Science Hardware Makerspace (the SHACK). Participants will have the opportunity to harness their creativity in a space-themed hackathon.
"The hackathon is an event where people from the campus community form teams and work together to create solutions to NASA-proposed challenges within 48 hours," said Khetarpal, "We think it will be a great way for students to take a creative break and focus on something besides exams."
The topics for this year's event challenge participants with a variety of possible projects that make use of NASA data, including building devices and technological solutions, helping others understand Earth's ecological systems, and exploring the beauty of the universe-to name just a few potential areas teams can explore.
Teams will then have until Sunday to build a prototype, create an app, or otherwise tackle their chosen project before sharing their results at the end of the weekend. Workshops highlighting the 3D-printing tools available at The SHACK and other resources on campus will be held as part of the event to assist teams with development.
While Khetarpal expects that turnout for the hackathon will be primarily students, she adds that the free event is open to the community and provides benefits that go beyond the classroom.
"Hackathons create an environment for people to be creative and collaborative with like-minded people in a rapid manner," said Khetarpal. "By learning from each other, participants learn new skills and make new friends that could lead to jobs, to new businesses, and to new networks."
The 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge begins on Friday, October 19 at 6 p.m. in the Katz Atrium of the Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research, and runs through Sunday. For more details and to register, visit the hackathon website.