Welcome to the official Tulsa Space Apps home page! We are excited for Tulsa to participate in this incredible event for the first time in its 10 year history! NASA Space Apps is a global hackathon put on by NASA and other space agencies that enables like minded creatives and innovators from all over the world to come together and create innovative solutions to pressing challenges on Earth and in Space via hackathon challenges.
Space Apps is a amazing opportunity for Tulsans to come together, collaborate and showcase our city's ingenuity and innovative creativity! Solutions to Space apps solutions can take the form of websites, mobile apps, hardware, or even a well presented/flushed out idea for a solution. A panel of judges and will then score the solutions and select winners for separate categories as well as select nominees who's solutions will go on to compete against other top solutions across the globe in the NASA International Space Apps Challenge.
Participants in Space apps have often included, coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers. builders, technologists, artists and more! We encourage companies, nonprofits, universities, schools, artists and studios to participate. Creatives are as essential to innovation as technologists so we strongly encourage teams to be a mixture of creatives, technologists and visionaries. Diversity of representation is as important as diversity of thought and discipline so we also encourage teams to ensure they are selected in a way that is intentional and inclusive.
Sign up and help Tulsa show the world what we are capable of!
#TulsaTime
Registration
Registration is now open! Please sign up and register via the registration box in the upper right hand corner of the page. We we look forward to seeing you on at kickoff on October 2nd! Please be sure to routinely check our schedule for pre-hackathon event updates!
Awards
The following are the award categories that our panel of Judges will be using as points of reference for scoring solutions:
Best Use of Data: The solution that best makes data accessible, or leverages it to a unique application.
Best Use of Hardware: The solution that exemplifies the most innovative use of hardware.
Best Mission Concept: The solution with the most plausible solution concept and design.
Most Inspirational: The solution that most captures hearts.
Galactic Impact: The solution with the most potential to improve life on Earth or in space.
Best Use of Science: The solution that makes the best and most valid use of science and or the scientific method.
Art and Technology: The solution that most effectively combines technical and creative skills.
Best Storytelling Award: The solution that most creatively communicates the potential of open data through the art of storytelling.
General Information
More details on the event in general can be found in the participant FAQ.
You can find guides on all things space apps at the space apps resources page.
Judges
Maya Nkouka
Maya is a Program Manager with OK Catalyst, leading SBIR training and outreach efforts in Tulsa and the surrounding areas. In 2020, she directed the development and execution of the first all-virtual SBIR Accelerator in the nation. Most recently, she began leading the OK Catalyst Endeavor program, our newest initiative to help Phase I awardees obtain Phase II awards that typically amount to $750K and can exceed $1 million. Prior to joining the OK Catalyst team, Maya supported the US Department of Veterans Affairs by assisting veteran entrepreneurs to become qualified for the Vets First Verification Program, leading them to a unique opportunity to bid on VA set-aside contracts. Maya graduated from Indiana University with a BS in Management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and obtained a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law.
Diana Varnes
Diana Varnes is the INTENT Programs Lead for the Tom Love Innovation Hub and is based out of the OU-Tulsa campus, as the OU Innovation Hub is expanding its programming to other parts of the state. She also serves on the board of Techlahoma Foundation as Vice President and has a passion for civic tech and leads projects for Code for America through the volunteer group, Code for Tulsa. When she's not working, she enjoys a variety of hobbies including gaming, gardening, cooking, traveling, hiking, and spending time with her husband and dogs.
Schedule (All times US/Central)
Wednesday, November 3rd
Please join us this Sunday at 12pm during Space Apps to hear Monica Lee Foley former rocket scientist and current Chief of Staff of NASA's Johnson Space Center speak on the importance of diverse people embracing STEM and Innovation! Join us and encourage as many young as possible to also join and be inspired! #BlackTechStreet
When: Sunday 12pm
Where: Zoom
Zoom link and Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/upUvde-hqDwiE9Y0VDEjmdYAJqLeaQvp6UTz
"Monica Lee Foley is the Chief of Staff for the NASA Johnson
Space Center. As a senior leader in the Agency she is a technical integrator for human spaceflight programs and is currently applying her expertise to meet NASA’s bold mission of landing the first woman on the moon and the first humans on Mars.
Foley has over two decades of low-Earth orbit human risk mitigation, operational and sustaining engineering experience. She has executed over 3,000 hours in the Mission Control Center-Houston as an International Space Station flight controller where she specialized in the Electrical Power Systems and was the first to earn three electrical power flight controller certifications.
She brings an extensive mastery of negotiations and federal contracts as she served as the Contracting Officer Technical Representative managing Russian Space contracts valued at over $4.4 billion USD, the largest international contract in the NASA agency.
She has applied her scientific and financial acuity to expand human exploration in commercial activities, innovation theory, and applied technology transfer. She was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal.
Foley worked as a contract consultant with Ernst and Young in Montreal, Canada creating models to mitigate financial banking risks and establish corporate risk mitigation protocols.
She has published research performed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on K-Shell energies and transition rates for the Auger and Radiative decays in carbon-like ions which is used internationally in atomic and nuclear studies.
She is an avid STEM and STEAM advocate. She is a public speaker and supports numerous non-profit organizations. She is also a mentor to youth and girls through various affiliations.
By the age of 21, Foley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Southern University and A&M College. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was selected as a Sloan Leadership Fellow. "