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The College of Information Technology secured third place in the NASA Space Apps Challenge, held at the Al Hussein Technical University on Saturday and Sunday, 5-6 October 2024.

Representing the college were Layan Ayman Al-Dissi from the Software Engineering department and Rama Al-Amoudi from the Artificial Intelligence department.

The NASA Space Apps Challenge is an annual global hackathon organized by NASA, aimed at attracting innovators from around the world to solve real-world challenges related to space and Earth sciences. The challenges cover a range of topics, including environment, climate, space exploration, and geographic information. The competition is open to students, scientists, engineers, programmers, designers, and artists, who are tasked with developing prototypes using NASA’s tools and data.

A total of 48 teams from various local universities, both public and private, participated in this event.

Professor Mohammad Hassan, Dean of the College of Information Technology, noted that the college’s students consistently stand out in local and regional competitions with their innovative ideas and projects. He extended his gratitude to the university administration for its unwavering support of student activities in the IT faculty.

The students' project involved creating a website that simplifies data from NASA's PACE mission, launched in February 2024. The project tackles the challenge of making satellite data from the OCI instrument easier to understand in classrooms, where teachers often struggle to explain it. Using the SeaDAS tool to analyze satellite data, the team designed a prototype website that presents this information in a simplified, interactive format, complete with educational games from NASA.

The website also features an app, enabling users to track satellite updates, view imagery, and browse short educational videos (Reels).