President Stevo Pendarovski met today in Mladi Hub with the “Quake Brains” and “Constellation” teams, which achieved exceptional results at the Nasa Space Apps Challenge 2023 hackathon – Strumica.
The first place at this hackathon was won by several high school girls from “Dimitar Vlahov” school from Strumica, united in “Quake Brains”. They worked on the Be a Space Geologist challenge. The schoolgirls introduced President Pendarovski to their website, a solution prompted by the occurrence of earthquakes, with the aim of timely alarming and minimizing the possibility of loss of human lives and damage with unforeseeable consequences. Their website also allows to donate funds intended for affected families and threatened areas.
The “Constellation” team – elementary school students from Skopje, who were also the youngest participants in 2023, won third place with the project Eclipses: PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING. Their project provides an understanding of the mechanics and seasons of the natural phenomenon Eclipse.
Congratulating everyone involved in the hackathon for their success, President Pendarovski said that it is important to encourage creativity and stimulate the potential of young people. President Pendarovski told the students that to succeed, it is not enough to compete with themselves or with their classmates and peers, but that they must compete with the whole world.
The mentors and organizers of the 48-hour hackathon, in which students worked on 30 challenges provided by the NASA space agency, pointed out that the number of participants this year had increased dramatically compared to 2022, which for them is an indication that young people want to explore and acquire knowledge and skills beyond formal education.
In Mladi Hub, the President also spoke with Martina Dimoska – the first Macedonian analog astronaut. Dimoska informed President Pendarovski that she recently acquired the title of NASTAR “elder” ambassador – a center approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Dimoska shared her impressions about the projects implemented within the framework of NASA Space Apps, emphasizing the exceptional contribution of young people from our country.
