Tampa, FL

United States

Welcome to the Tampa Bay 2020 Space Apps Challenge! Using NASA-provided data, select and tackle a challenge over 48 hours. We'll bring the place, tools, prizes and swag. You bring the creativity and enthusiasm! Did we mention this is completely free for participants?

This year, the event is primarily virtual. We'll host the opening and closing sessions online. During registration, participants can stop by the hackerspace to pick up their goody bags and get a brief tour of the space so they can see what fabrication facilities we have available and learn a little bit about what Tampa Hackerspace offers to Tampa Bay year-round.

The event begins at 6:00 PM on Oct 2 through 6:00 PM on Oct 4. Many of the tools and workshops at Tampa Hackerspace will be available for teams to prototype and design their solutions.

As you begin your Space Apps journey, we encourage you to keep the following information in mind. For comprehensive guides, please consult the Space Apps Challenge 2020 Participant FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Other guides (on the chat platform, on team formation, on project submission, and on judging and awards) will be posted as the hackathon draws closer. All guides can be found on the Space Apps resources page and on your user dashboard under "Materials".

Space Apps chat will open more than a week prior to the hackathon. There, you can connect with the global community and search for teammates. There will also be challenge channels, where you can connect with Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) and Space Apps Ambassadors once the hackathon starts. They will be available to answer your questions about the challenges and the data, particularly during Space Apps weekend!

Our Judges

We have selected three fantastic judges from the local startup, tech and maker community. I'm pleased to introduce Sarrah Vesselov, Marvin Scaff, and Erica Moulton as our judging panel.

Sarrah Vesselov is A UX professional, speaker, and author with over 10 years of experience in design, development, and management. She speaks at conferences around the world on the topics of user experience and front-end development and co-authored the book, Building Design Systems.
Marvin Scaff is a CxO executive with extensive entrepreneurial experience leading software development teams creating 1.0 products. His specialties include mobile applications, enterprise software, distributed development teams, user experience and web technologies and include interests in embedded electronics, knowledge discovery, semantic web and social media.
Erica Moulton is currently the STEM Director for St Petersburg College. She also owns a small business: PVC ROV, teaching underwater robotics around the world and has been actively involved in the Maker Movement since the early 2000s. Her first time working with NASA involved an aquaculture experiment onboard STS 95 with Astronaut John Glenn and she has had 3 opportunities to observe ROVs at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston. Erica is looking into seeing your creative endeavors!