A project to identify sharks and another on artificial intelligence crowned winners of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge in Barcelona

The NASA International Space Apps Challenge, one of the leading STEAM hackathons worldwide, took place this past weekend in Barcelona.

This is the third time the city has hosted the local edition of the event, which aims to foster and develop creative solutions to global challenges posed by NASA.

The NASA Space Apps Challenge is a global initiative open to people of all ages and backgrounds — students, professionals, scientists, engineers, artists, and communicators.

Participants work collaboratively to develop innovative projects that aim to improve life on Earth and in space, using open data from NASA and other associated space agencies.

During this edition, held at Campus 42 Barcelona Fundación Telefónica, over 20 teams tackled some of the 19 challenges, covering areas such as sustainability, health, technology, and space exploration.

The winning teams of this edition are Sharkitects and AI i Oli. Sharkitects developed a mathematical method based on satellite data to identify sharks and predict where they feed. In addition, they proposed a new type of electronic tag capable of recording not only the sharks’ location but also their feeding behaviour, with the aim of improving their conservation and scientific study. AI i Oli, on the other hand, created a tool based on artificial intelligence and computer vision to make the exploration of astronomical images easier. Through a natural language chat interface, it allows users to identify stars, galaxies and constellations in a simple and accessible way for all audiences.

Both teams will represent Barcelona in the international phase of the competition, competing with projects from around the world and aiming to present their proposals at the Kennedy Space Center (USA).

The local event was organised by SpaceApps Spain and supported by Fundación Telefónica, the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), within the framework of the Talent and Society programme of Catalonia’s NewSpace Strategy. This year, Spain led participation across Europe, with around 800 participants spread across six local hubs. The hackathon was also held simultaneously in other cities around the world.

The opening ceremony featured institutional participation from Xavier Luri, Director of the IEEC; Sandra Ruiz Peralta, Director General of Digital Economy and Society of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Nikki Finnemann, Public Diplomacy Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Barcelona; Sara Díaz, Executive Director of Strategic Sectors and Talent at Barcelona Activa; Ainhoa Zamora, Director of Telefónica Campus 42 Barcelona; and Álvaro Montoliu, representing NASA Space Apps Spain.

Once again, the IEEC actively collaborated in this year’s edition, providing mentors (Laura Martí Ramos and Lluís Montilla Rodríguez) who supported the participating teams, as well as jury members (Lluís Foreman Campins and Paula Lomascolo Pujadó) responsible for evaluating the final proposals.