THRISSUR:
The NASA Space Apps Challenge Thrissur 2023 by Unique World Robotics, held in association with Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), emerged as the largest event in the extensive global hackathon by the US aeronautics agency.
As many as 4,126 participants from 448 teams converged at the Thrissur leg, making it the biggest among the 402 such events spread across 165 countries. With ‘Let’s Explore Open Science Together’ as the theme, the Thrissur leg featuring 30 challenges was held at Jyothi Engineering College in Cheruthuruthy, 25 km north of the city.
Three teams won the Global Nomination: ‘Cassini’ from CKM NSS, Chalakudy (Thrissur district), ‘Maxq’ from Jyothi Engineering College and ‘Red Spot’ (from St Albert’s College, Ernakulam. An evaluation committee under the guidelines provided by NASA Space Apps selected the Global Nominees, which met the challenges by prescribing solutions by using the data of the US agency.
The global nominees will be evaluated by a panel of judges from NASA and the Global Winners will be announced in January 2024. They will be eligible for special training and expert advice besides gaining entry to participate in a set of NASA training programmes at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.
The Thrissur leg had also hosted competitions for the best projects in junior (school) and senior (college) categories.
The First category saw ‘Cassini’ from CKM NSS, Chalakudy emerging toppers and bagging Rs. 50,000. The first runner-up was ‘Martian Warriors’ from Mar Thoma Central School, Kaviyoor (Rs 30,000), followed by ‘Nirmalamatha 2k23’ from Nirmala Matha Central School, Thrissur (Rs 20,000).
Among the seniors, ‘Maxq’ (Rs. 50,000) and ‘Red Spot’ (Rs 30,000) occupied the first and second slots, while ‘Stellar Crew’ from Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally in Kottayam district (Rs 20,000) came third.
NASA Space Apps Challenge forged a “significant partnership” with the US organisation besides 13 international space agencies, including ISRO. To organisers, this signified an “extraordinary commitment” to open science and collaborative exploration. The achievement showcased the power of innovation and collaboration, positioning NASA Space Apps Challenge Thrissur as a catalyst for future innovators and problem-solvers in the field of space technology and exploration, they added.
KSUM is Kerala government’s nodal agency established in 2006 for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
