Every year, I lead a team of STEM and university students in the NASA International Space Apps Challenge — the world’s largest annual hackathon. Teams from over 150 countries come together for 48 hours to tackle real problems using NASA’s open data. It’s not just about coding — it’s about algorithmic thinking, collaboration, and creativity.

From building apps that track climate change to designing AI tools for astronauts, Space Apps is where algorithms meet imagination. For students, it’s a chance to work with NASA data, sharpen their skills in Python, AI, and data science, and show how technology can solve challenges both in space and here on Earth.

I am excited to share that my team has been chosen as one of the 1290+ Global Nominees selected from Local Events and the Universal Event ! #SpaceApps participants submitted over 11,500 projects and mine stood out as a Global Nominee in the 2025 NASA Space Apps Challenge ! 

Data from several different space-based exoplanet surveying missions have enabled discovery of thousands of new planets outside our solar system, but most of these exoplanets were identified manually. With advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), it is possible to automatically analyze large sets of data collected by these missions to identify exoplanets. My NASA Spaceapps 2025 Team will create an AI/ML model that is trained on one or more of the open-source exoplanet datasets offered by NASA and that can analyze new data to accurately identify exoplanets. (Astrophysics Division)

https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/find-a-team/1-st-contact-ai/ 

One of the best hackathons we ever joined was the NASA Space Apps Hackathon hosted at Inmarsat in London. Our team built a concept for an app-controlled drone designed to track how wildfires throw aerosols into the atmosphere. Using NASA’s open data, we showed how these tiny particles can travel long distances, interact with weather systems, and even contribute to tornado formation when they eventually settle down. It was an inspiring mix of coding, Earth science, and aerospace engineering — and it proved how a group of students, given the right challenge and data, can design tools with the potential to tackle some of the world’s toughest environmental problems. 

The hackathon was made even more exciting by the venue: Inmarsat’s headquarters in London, a global hub for satellite communications and space innovation. Just being in a place that runs satellites orbiting Earth gave our team a huge buzz. The team I was leading was equally fantastic — a real mix of talents that showed the power of collaboration. We had chemistry students working on how the drone’s probes could detect and measure aerosols in the atmosphere, electrical engineering students fine-tuning the app that controlled the drone, and I took on the role of UX designer, making sure the app was simple, intuitive, and user-friendly. To top it off, a management student brought it all together with a polished presentation that clearly explained our solution to the judges. It was a true “Space Apps spirit” moment: different disciplines, one mission, and a shared passion for solving global problems with creativity and technology.