Meet the Filipino Winners of the 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge

This past weekend, social entrepreneur Analisa Balares's global leadership community platform Womensphere partnered with Sustainable Green Synergy and NASA to present the 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge in the Philippines.

The widely successful event concluded with a first place win by the PCI Seaversity VR Team, while The Red Wheelbarrow bagged second place. For third place, three 15-year-olds from Manila Science High School — Edric Luis Ato, Mary Jasmine Villafuerte, and East Christinea Gambalan — bested several other teams. The top three teams of the local hackathon won Php30,000 in cash prizes, while a Certificate of Accomplisment was handed out to all teams that completed the challenge.

In a Facebook post, the organization congratulated those who participated by saying, "And that concludes the 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge Philippines: Makati-BGC! Congratulations to all the winners and see you again next year for another exciting and collaborative scientific exploration!"

The global hackathon had participants work together to address challenges in Earth science and space exploration. What makes the challenge different, however, is that it's not just limited to apps. In previous years, the event has made use of robotics, data visualization, hardware, and design, to name a few.

Founded in 2012, Space Apps usually takes place in over 48 hours in several cities around the world. From coders and scientists to designers, many have joined the world's largest hackathon. Space Apps' Global Winners will have the chance to attend the launch of a space mission. Last year's winners witnessed the launch of TDRS-M, a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

This year, the challenges had participants brainstorm about helping others discover the Earth, creating a variety of useful tools and technology, diving into NASA data to prepare the world for surprises, improving life on Earth, understanding our planet's cryosphere, and conceptualizing ideas for space science and exploration.

For more information, visit Womensphere's website.

This story originally appeared on Townandcountry.ph.

*Minor edits have been made by the SmartParenting.com.ph editors.

This story was updated on October 24, 2018 at 1:14 p.m. to include the names of the students from Manila Science High School.