We conducted a survey right after the NASA ISAC Boston 2022 event to get the real voices of our participants. Here we would like to share the results from the survey respondents (N=18). Survey Participants by Occupation As more than 80% of the participants were students at school, most of the teams consisted of a mixture of students. Those who were graduate and undergraduate students majored in Computer Science & Astronomy, Biomedical Data Science, UX Design and Political Science, Engineering and Education and International Trading, etc. They enjoyed working together in a team with people from other schools and backgrounds. Survey Participants by Age We welcomed a variety of generations from pre-teen to over 40. Such a diversity in life experience and the stage of life reflected a wide variety of interest and focus on the project. How satisfied are you with the hackathon experience overall? We are pleased to hear that most participants were highly satisfied with the hackathon experience overall. One of the participants gave us feedback saying “A cool hackathon and pretty glad with how everything went. Wonderful challenges and a wide range of tools.” One thing to improve is to provide more effective support in matching teammates as some participants had difficulties in finding a teammate in a virtual setting. How satisfied are you with the mentor support? We are also glad to know that most participants found technical and specialized support from our mentor helpful in developing their ideas within these intense 2-days. Thankfully, one participant left us a comment saying “Your judges and mentors are extremely kind.” Once again, we as organizers of ISAC Boston 2022 are truly honored to have talented, aspiring participants. We are grateful to see that all participants enjoyed the hackathon overall. We will reflect this feedback to make our future event even more attractive and satisfying to everyone. Looking forward to seeing more talents next time!
NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022 Summary
(日本語は英語の後に続きます) We would like to give a big round of applause to all participants of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022. We are proud to have hosted this annual hackathon for the 9th consecutive time this year with the past three years being in a virtual setting. Thanks to the virtual setting this year, we were able to welcome 27 members in 10 teams from the Greater Boston area and beyond. The event was officiated by the Consulate General of Japan in Boston this year as well. Each team made a tremendous effort attacking the tough problems posed by NASA with creativity and skill. The solutions included quantifying droughts, developing platforms designing 3D extraterrestrial life with a high stress tolerance, 3D living space for astronauts, producing electricity via thermoelectric effects and flywheel + siphon mechanism, and creating a multimedia abstract style video. Participants used data from NASA, hardware such as RaspberryPi, and the Kintone API to create and visualize their solutions. Please check out https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams for more details about each fantastic project! Following each pitch was a judging Q&A session by our three esteemed judges. Team Earth, Wind & Flare won First Place. They built an original IoT device using 64×64 LED matrix boards to publicize space weather and its impacts on Earth. We wish them the best of luck at the Global hackathon judging event. We would also like to congratulate our second winner, Team Interstellar UX/UI. They developed a centralized platform with better UX/UI curating information on earth observation data which are currently scattered everywhere on the Internet. We were impressed by all submissions and loved to see all the innovations born through the hackathon. Finally, we’d like to thank our great judges, the Consulate General of Japan in Boston and our sponsors who supported us hosting ISAC Boston 2022 successfully. We hope all participants and people concerned enjoyed the exciting 2-day journey with us and look forward to seeing everyone again next year! NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022 projects https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams ISAC Boston 2022 Judges: Michael Caine (Director of Hardware Engineering for Shopify Logistics, formerly 6 River Systems) Branden Allen (Staff astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory) Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas) Opening remarks: Setsuo Ohmori,Consul General of Japan in Boston Christopher E. Carr (Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) Closing remarks: Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office) ISAC Boston 2022 Sponsors: Mitsubishi Corporation Americas Kintone Ogawa Coffee USA Toyota USA Z-kai USA Inc. Supporter: Consulate-General of Japan in Boston (在ボストン日本国総領事館) Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/ （日本語） NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022にご参加頂いた皆様、誠にありがとうございました。Binnovative主催のISAC Bostonも今年で9回目を迎え、直近2回に引き続き今回もオンラインで無事開催することが出来ました。オンライン開催であった為、ボストン以外の遠隔地からの参加者を含めて全10チーム、総勢27名の方に参加頂きました。また、今年も在ボストン日本国総領事館のご協力を頂いております。 各チームそれぞれ独創的なアイディアとスキルを駆使して、NASAより提示された課題解決に取り組まれました。具体的には、NASAの各種オープンデータ、RaspberryPiなどのハードウェア、またKintone APIなどを活用して干ばつ状態を定量化、可視化する、宇宙特有の環境下でストレス耐性のある生命体を3D設計する、宇宙飛行士の居住空間を3D設計する、熱電効果やフライホイールとサイフォンの原理を使って発電する、マルチメディアから情報抽出した動画を作るなどの多様なアイディアが生まれました。各チームのプロジェクト内容詳細については、ぜひhttps://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teamsをご参照下さい。 各チームのピッチ、3名の素晴らしいジャッジの方々からの質疑応答を経て、今年はEarth, Wind & Flareチームが優勝しました。同チームは宇宙空間の天気やその地球への影響を発信する64×64 LED盤を使った独自のIoT機器を作りました。Local優勝チームとしてGlobal hackathonコンペでの受賞もぜひ期待しています。また準優勝は、現状インターネットに散在している地球のあらゆる観測データを集約する、高UX/UIデータプラットフォームを作ったInterstellar UX/UIチームが受賞しました。受賞チームを含めた全チームが素晴らしい成果を出されており、このハッカソンを通じて生まれた全てのアイディアに敬意を表したいと思います。 最後に、今回ISAC Boston開催にご協力頂いたジャッジの皆様、在ボストン日本国総領事館の皆様、スポンサーの皆様、改めてサポート頂き深謝申し上げます。参加者及び関係者の皆様全員が2日間のイベントを楽しんで頂けておりましたら幸いです。また来年もこのイベントでお会い出来ることを楽しみにしております！ NASA International Space Apps Challenge Boston 2022 projects https://2022.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/boston/teams ISAC Boston 2022 審査員: Michael Caine (Director of Hardware Engineering for Shopify Logistics, formerly 6 River Systems) Branden Allen (Staff astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory) Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office, representing the Japanese space agency in the Americas) オープニングリマークス: Setsuo Ohmori,Consul General of Japan in Boston Christopher E. Carr (Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) クロージングリマークス: Masami Onoda (Director of JAXA Washington D.C. Office) ISAC Boston 2022 スポンサー: Mitsubishi Corporation Americas Kintone Ogawa Coffee USA Toyota USA Z-kai USA Inc. 後援: Consulate-General of Japan in Boston (在ボストン日本国総領事館) Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/
NASA Space Apps Challenge 2022 Event Page Launched!
NASA Space Apps Challenge 2022 Event Page : http://spaceappsboston.org/ NASA International Space App Challenge (ISAC) is an international mass collaborative hackathon focused on space exploration that takes place over 48-hours in cities around the world. Binnovative will once again be host to this year’s Boston location for the challenge, and we look forward to seeing what the bright minds of our community can come up with this time! This year, the largest international space and science hackathon will be held virtually on October 1st-2nd. We are waiting for any participants passionate about solving challenges related with this year’s theme “Make SPACE” by using NASA’s resources. You do not need to have any technical skills such as coding and engineering in participating in the event. As long as you have enthusiasm and creativity to explore the new solutions to the world, you are more than welcome to join us! We here at Binnovative will be organizing NASA ISAC in Boston for our 9th year. To participate, you can form your own teams among your friends or join our Slack channel to seek like-minded innovators to work with! This year’s challenges are the most open and diverse we’ve seen yet, so no matter what interests you, there’s sure to be an opportunity for you to get involved! This event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions which are applicable to both life on Earth and life in space. NASA expects to see a wide scope of talents: programmers, designers, artists, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, developers, and more. Anyone with an eye towards creativity and the motivation to make those ideas a reality is welcome! In other words, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A PROGRAMMER to take part in this event! Bring your creativity and other talents to help make your ideas come to life! Our gold sponsor Kintone (https://developer.kintone.io/hc/en-us) is the producer of a no/low code development platform and will provide developer access to attendees. Kintone is a cloud platform for teams with a visual application builder that enables organizations to effectively manage their data and workflows for better collaboration. This is no code/low code system so attendees who don’t code can build apps effectively. Past Awards ISAC Boston 2021 local finalist team won ISAC Global Winner in Art and technology category. Team Jimmy in the box is WOW-ed by how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) uses origami-like folding and unfolding for its launch and deployment. Using our diverse skills and experience, this project builds computerized origami models for JWST in order to showcase its amazing design and “satisfying” deployment steps. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER !
Kids IoT Workshop class4 Report (親子 IoT ワークショップレポート) by Kana
(English is after Japanese) 3/6（日）10:00〜16:00、3/20（日）10:00〜16:00に未経験者・初心者向け電子工作・プログラミングの体験型ワークショップをオンライン開催し、総勢22名の小中学生とそのご家族の方にご参加頂きました。今回のワークショップは2020年12月に開始したシリーズ4回目の開催となります。また、講師2名に加えて、シリーズ1・2回目のワークショップに参加した5名の小中学生の皆さんにもStudent TAとしてレクチャーしてもらいました。ワークショップ1日目はRaspberry Piと呼ばれるマイクロコンピュータにLEDライトやセンサーを取り付け、Pythonというプログラミング言語を使ってLEDライトを点滅させるアプリを作り、2日目はKintone（本ワークショップの協力団体であり、自社プロダクトのクラウドデータベースを無償で提供して頂いています）エンジニアによるKintoneプロダクトの説明、昨年のNASAハッカソン参加者による受賞プロジェクトの内容の概要プレゼンの後、PythonとRaspberry Pi（RasPi）を活用したカメラ撮影・動体検知アプリを作りました。 初めて聞く言葉、見る画面が多く、最初は戸惑いのあった参加者も多かったかと思いますが、作業工程を進める内に集中する場面も増えて来て、特にLEDライトやカメラのリボンケーブルをRasPiに取り付けるといった工作パートは楽しみながら作業されていました。実際にプログラミング指示した内容通りにLEDライトが点滅したり、モーションセンサーによって動きを検知した際の写真がRasPiに接続したカメラで撮影されたり、その写真がクラウド（Kintone）に自動的に続けて保存されていった時の感動で、皆さんが満面の笑顔になっていたのがとても印象的でした。参加者によって作業の進行速度が異なった為、時にはbreakout roomに分かれてトラブルシューティングを行いつつも、最終的に参加者全員がワークショップを完走することが出来ました。途中で問題の解決方法を参加者同士でzoomチャットに共有する助け合いの動きもあり、リモート環境下でも参加者全員がone teamとなっていました。 ワークショップ参加後の感想では、お子さんからは純粋にとても楽しかった、成功して嬉しかった、またやりたいといったポジティブなフィードバックが多くありました。また、同年代のTAやハッカソン参加者の姿が刺激になり、次回はTAとしてワークショップに参加してみたい、ハッカソンを通じてさらにスキルを身に着けたいという好奇心や向上心に溢れた声も上がり、今回のワークショップを機にエンジニアリングの世界を身近に感じられた方が増えた様子でした。 保護者の皆様からは、難しいプロセスも多かったものの、講師陣の丁寧なフォロー説明や事前配布資料のおかげで初心者でも成功させることが出来て、非常に満足度の高いワークショップであったとの意見が多く寄せられました。その中には、お子さんがワークショップを通じて自信を身につけられて良かった、親子で共に作業を進めた時よりもお子さん一人に任せた時の方が集中力高く取り組んでいる様子を見て、自主性を重んじようと新たな気付きが得られたといった、親子双方の成長を短時間で感じられた方々もいらっしゃいました。 終始お子さん一人で自力で進められた方、ご家族一丸となって協力しながら進められた方、それぞれの参加スタイルがありましたが、皆さん積極的に講師・TAへの質問や確認を行っており、ワークショップを成功させたいという熱意が感じられました。2日間で合計12時間の長丁場でしたが、ご参加頂いた皆様ありがとうございました。 最後に、本記事を読んで今後開催予定のシリーズ5回目のワークショップ参加に興味を持たれた方、また今回のワークショップを機にプログラミングやIoT分野にさらに興味を持って頂き、Binnovative主催のその他イベント（ミニハッカソンなど）への参加や次回ワークショップへのTAとしての参加にご関心がある方は、ぜひkidsiot@binnovative.org までご連絡下さい。 文章：篠﨑花菜 On March 6th and 20th, Binnovative held a 2-day electronics and programming workshop for new and novice learners. A total of 22 elementary/middle schoolers and their family participated in the workshop online. It was the fourth session of the Family IoT Workshop series which started in December, 2020. Not only two professional lecturers, but also five elementary/middle schoolers who participated in the first and second sessions led the workshop as teaching assistants(TA) this time. On Day 1, participants worked on attaching LED lights and motion sensors to a microcomputer called Raspberry Pi or RasPi, and making apps to switch LED lights by using a programming language called Python. On Day 2, after the presentations on Kintone* products by their engineers and the NASA Hackathon awarded project overviews by the project team, participants made photo shooting and motion detecting apps by using Python and RasPi. (*Kintone is the company supporting the Binnovative workshop by providing their cloud database for free.) Although some participants struggled with new words and screen views in the beginning, as they moved forward, they started to concentrate on and enjoy the workshop. They had fun especially at electronics processes such as attaching LED lights and camera ribbon cables to RasPi. We could see participants pleased with their work when they actually saw LED lights turning on and off as they programmed; photos being taken by the camera connected to RasPi in response to the motions detected by the sensor; and these photos automatically being uploaded in the cloud Kintone. Despite the difference in progress speed within participants, everyone accomplished the workshop in the end with the support for troubleshooting in the breakout room. We also captured some moments that participants themselves help each other by sharing tips on how one solved the technical issues in the zoom chat. Definitely, there was a “one team” vibe in the group even under the virtual settings. After the workshop, we received a lot of positive feedback from the kids. Here are some comments: “the workshop was simply so fun,” “I’m so glad that I actually made it,” and “I want to join the workshop again.” Furthermore, some were so stimulated by what their peer TA and NASA Hackathon teams achieved that they were also eager to join the workshop as TA next time and to participate in a hackathon aiming for engineering skills. We are glad to find our workshop improved their intellectual curiosity and motivations even more, and made them feel closer to technology. Their families were also highly satisfied with the workshop as their kids successfully accomplished the work thanks to the thorough support from lecturers and well-organized handouts shared in advance. Some mentioned that they were pleased to see their kids gain confidence by completing such a challenging workshop. They also said that they learned the importance of giving autonomy as kids concentrated more when they were working by themselves than when working with their family. There were many meaningful lessons for both kids and their family within two days. We really appreciate how deeply participants committed to the workshop. People were proactively asking questions and making confirmations with lecturers and TA throughout the workshop. We saw great passions from all, although it was a very long session for 12 hours in total. For those who participated for two full days, thank you again for your hard work! Lastly, if you are interested in participating the next workshop (the fifth session) as a participant or TA, and any other events led by Binnovative such as hackathon, please feel free to contact us: kidsiot@binnovative.org By Kana Shinozaki
Boston students bring home a win at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2021
Boston students bring home a win at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2021 (日本語版は英語の後にあります) A team of Boston students won the ‘Art and Technology’ award at the NASA International Space Apps Challenge this year. This event, managed by the NASA Earth Science Division, is the world’s largest hackathon bringing together over 28,000 people from 323 locations and 4,534 teams around the world. The hackathon which takes place globally in the fall and has been organized by Binnovative in Boston since 2014, was held virtually on October 2-3 this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year offered some of the most diverse and interesting hackathon challenge topics of any year: discovering science connections with data, identifying risk with science and communities, and the trail to Mars. The winning team, creatively named ‘Jimmy in the Box’ took on the Webb Origami Design Challenge with their submission, “Where Paper Crafting Meets Electronics and Coding.” They addressed the challenge from multiple angles, including computerized models and demonstrations. We are proud to have team Jimmy in the Box win the ‘Art and Technology’ award, one of ten such categories in the International Space Apps Challenge 2021. In our 8th consecutive year hosting the International Space Apps Challenge here in Boston (ISAC Boston), we are grateful for the community that organized, judged, participated, and volunteered again this year! And a special thank you to our sponsors. We thank you all for your kindness and generosity in supporting this annual event, and look forward to next year. For media inquiries contact: Eriko Nishimoto, Founder/CEO, Binnovative eriko@binnovative.org (日本語版) ボストンの10代日本人チームが、NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2021でグローバルアワード獲得！ 今年のNASA International Space Apps Challenge（以下、ISAC）において、アメリカ・マサチューセッツ州ボストン近郊の小・中・高校生4名のチーム（5〜11年生）が「Art & Technology」部門で優勝しました。 ISACは、NASAが主催する世界最大のハッカソンで、2012年以来毎年開催されています。今年は日本のJAXA（宇宙航空研究開発機構）を含む9カ国の宇宙開発機関と連携し、10月2・3日にオンライン開催されました。NASAが提供するテーマやデータをもとに世界各地で地区大会が行われ、各地区大会から選出されたチームが国際審査を経て選抜、表彰されます。今年の参加者総数は、世界162カ国・323か所から28,000人以上となりました（参加チーム総数は4,534）。ボストンの地区大会はBinnovativeが2014年から主催しており、今年は小学生から大人まで多彩な顔ぶれで10チームが参加しました。 今年のISACは、惑星探査や宇宙開発、地球観測だけでなく、気候変動、生物多様性、COVID-19パンデミック、データサイエンスなど、例年以上に多様性あふれる興味深いテーマが取り上げられました。 優勝した「Jimmy in the Box」チーム*は、「Webb Origami Design Challenge」というテーマに取り組みました。このテーマでは、ウェッブ宇宙望遠鏡（James Webb Space Telescope）の模型を折り紙を使って制作し、その先進的な設計を効果的に紹介することが求められました。「Jimmy in the Box」チームは、ウェッブ宇宙望遠鏡の鏡を模した折り紙を作るために独自の六角形折り紙細工（テッセレーション）を考案し、また小型コンピュータ（ラズベリーパイ）やクラウド・データベースを利用して”コンピュータ化された”折り紙模型を作りました。このように、卓越した折り紙のアイデアと技術に加えて、コンピュータや電子工作、プログラミングのスキルを応用した独創性の高い成果となりました。 世界中の挑戦者の中から、10種類の表彰カテゴリーの中でも今年新設され注目された「Art & Science」部門で優勝した若いチームメンバー達を誇りに思います！また、これまで男性参加者が比較的多かったISACで、男女2名ずつというチームが活躍したことも大変にうれしいことです。 8年連続で、ここボストンでISAC地区大会を開催するにあたり、今年も組織メンバー・審査員・参加者・ボランティアとして関わってくれた、コミュニティの皆さんに感謝しています。そして、スポンサーの皆様にも感謝の意を表します。 毎年恒例となったこのボストンISACを支えてくださっている皆様のご好意と寛大さに感謝し、来年の開催を楽しみにしています！ 本件に関する問い合わせ先： Binnovative 代表 西本会里子 eriko@binnovative.org *Jimmy in the BoxチームのプロジェクトWebサイト：https://github.com/HSSBoston/jimmy-in-the-box Space Apps Boston official website http://spaceappsboston.org/