Filipino team visits NASA Kennedy Space Center after winning apps challenge

Team iNON visits the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Kennedy Space Center in Florida from July 22 to 24, 2019. Photo courtesy of the US Embassy in Manila.

MANILA, Philippines — A group of Filipinos visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center in Florida after they bested more than 1,000 teams worldwide in an app-making challenge.

In a statement on Friday, the United States Embassy in Manila said the team, composed of Revbrain Martin; Marie Jeddah Legaspi; Julius Czar Torreda; Matthew Concubierta; and Migs de Guzman, visited the space center from July 22 to 24, 2019.

The group of Filipinos, dubbed as Team iNON, triumphed over 1,395 teams worldwide with the app they developed during the NASA Space Apps Challenge.

READ: Philippine team bags 2018 NASA Space Apps Challenge 

The challenge was hosted by the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines in partnership with De La Salle University in October 2018.

The team had created ISDApp as a mobile platform that enables local government officials to provide fisherfolk with information about real-time weather and sea conditions.

“The inspiration behind ISDApp came from team members Revbrain and Jeddah. They live near the fishing communities in Obando, Bulacan and got the idea for how we could potentially help them through the use of technology,” said Torreda, ISDApp Solutions Designer.

“The vision for Team iNON is to be known for connecting fishing communities to the government, NGOs, and to the rest of the country so that they will be given the information they need, and at the same time build a community,” he further explained.

The embassy, which sponsored the visit, said team members presented their app to a panel of NASA officials and media.

The visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

It opened with the presentations by 2018 Space Apps Challenge winners from around the world. Next, the participants were given a tour of the space center.

The Filipino team also witnessed the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-18 spacecraft on July 25, the embassy noted.

“Coming from this overwhelming and thrilling experience of our achievement in the NASA Space Apps Challenge, we hope to inspire and excite young Filipino innovators to join and share their knowledge and expertise to help transform lives through the power of technology for a better future,” Martin said./ac