Over the weekend of October 5 and 6, 2024, the Chicago chapter of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge returned for its second year, with CIERA once again proud to serve as a main partner for the global hackathon’s local branch. NASA Space Apps Chicago was made possible this year by a host of sponsors including Google, Optiver, StoneX, Highlight, Code Your Dreams, and Cboe. Because of this partnership, CIERA and the 2024 NASA Space Apps Chicago sponsors were invited to ring the opening bell for the markets at Cboe on Friday, October 4.
CIERA Associate Director Shane Larson officially rang the bell, marking the formal beginning of the trading day. Prof. Larson was joined by Northwestern University Provost Kathleen Hagerty, CIERA Director Vicky Kalogera, CIERA Board of Visitors member Dianne Blanco, and CIERA Professors Aggelos Katsaggelos, Hooman Mohseni, Tali Figueroa-Feliciano, and Allison Strom. Representatives from the other Space Apps Chicago sponsors, as well as Space Apps local leads Don Crowley and Margaret Creagh also joined the festivities.
“It was so much fun!”, said Prof. Larson. “Markets and opening bells are the kind of thing you see happen in movies and on TV all the time — I never thought we’d be the ones who get to do it!”
Over the weekend following the bell ringing, 175 participants gathered in Chicago’s historic Civic Opera Building at TeamWorking by TechNexus for the hackathon itself, which proved to be the largest 2024 NASA Space Apps challenge in the United States! The hackathon is a two-day event where collaborative teams of students from a wide array of academic fields gather to design creative and data driven solutions to a series of challenges NASA has designed. The challenges are centered around NASA data, and the teams spend the full two days creating actual websites, programs, and mobile apps that solve the proposed challenge. Teams worldwide do this at the same time, with the results being judged in a global competition. Prof. Larson kicked off the morning in Chicago with opening remarks before teams comprised primarily of undergraduates and high school students got to work using open data to develop innovative and interdisciplinary solutions to this year’s challenges. CIERA Postdoc Tri Nguyen and Graduate Fellow Dany Atallah served as on-site astronomers, providing scientific guidance to hackathon participants.
“The participants, of course, are the best part,” said local lead Don Crowley. “This year we made official partnerships with student groups including Break Through Tech (UIC), Women in Computer Science (UIUC) and Evanston Hacks (Northwestern). It was really interesting to see these teams take different approaches to the challenges.”
“We saw participants not only from universities in the Chicagoland area and Illinois but also from Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The large number of participants and stronger presence of sponsors and volunteers really intensified the energy. The excitement was palpable,” reflected local lead Margaret Creagh.
On Saturday evening, NASA Einstein Fellow Sylvia Biscoveanu gave the CIERA lecture, teaching participants about gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts. Participants wrapped up their projects on Sunday and submitted them to the judges, which this year included CIERA computer science Professor Emma Alexander. “It was great to connect with the NASA Space Apps Chicago team and all of the participants,” reflected Prof. Alexander. “We heard from the participants about many topics, from the possibilities for life on exoplanets and data science for earthquake detection to data visualization for agriculture, hurricanes, and food deserts. The students built informative websites, educational games, and even new algorithms.”
“Space Apps provides an entirely free experience that is open to anyone,” said local lead Margaret Creagh. “Not only does this allow a wide range of ages, education levels and skill levels to participate, but also makes the event more approachable. Given the complexity of challenges and the talent of those involved, these events can be intimidating. Prospective participants may worry that they lack the necessary skills or experience to sign up. With Space Apps, none of this matters. And no team? We’ll help you find one. It’s all about providing everyone with the equal opportunity to participate and learn.”
“As someone with three young kids, volunteering and community involvement is very important to me,” said local lead Don Crowley. “If we don’t do it, nobody will. For me, leading the NASA Space Apps Challenge is a once in a lifetime opportunity to work alongside my friends, the world-class staff and faculty of CIERA, and many other talented people I met during this process to make an impact in our community. Even if we made a small difference it was worth it.”