Kuching: A team from SMK Bintulu were crowned the Global Winners of NASA Space Apps Challenge 2021, the world’s largest global hackathon.

       They were one of 10 Global Winners announced on a Twitter Livestream on Friday (Dec 10) by retired NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman.

       The team comprised Edwin Ting Heng Wei, Isaac Yong Wei Onn, Yiek Siew Hao, Jayden Lu Zheng Li and Sean Lee Jia Roung, supported by teacher Chew Ai Fang.

       Named Team Change Makers, they were awarded the ‘Best Use of Technology Global Award’, with their intuitive dashboard that helps streamline and simplify data given by NASA, allowing homeowners to easily gain access to meteorological data that would help them maximize the output of their solar panels.

       "The NASA Space Apps Challenge gives local talent a stage to solve global challenges that are impacting our lives through science, technology, engineering, and maths," said Education Science and Technology Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Kameri Haji Affandi.

       He added that team Change Makers winning such a universal event proved that the Ministry’s effort in improving education in Sarawak, especially STEM participation, was paying off and the Ministry hoped to organise a bigger hackathon in Sarawak next year.

       Team Change Makers were part of the 37 finalists from 320 locations worldwide, competing for the 10 Global Awards of the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2021.

       They were one of three Sarawakian teams that represented Malaysia among the 37 global finalists, the other two being SMK Pujut Educators from Miri, and team Dirty Bits from Unimas.

       The three teams from Sarawak were selected from the NASA Space Apps Challenge Sarawak 2021.

       "The teachers and students of SMK Bintulu are making a name for themselves and also making us very proud to be Malaysian," said NASA Space Apps Local Lead and Director of Realfun Learning Center Teo Yuang Teck.

       As part of the award, the team will receive an invitation from NASA to visit their facility in the United States, which could potentially include viewing the launch of a spacecraft. However, in light of the pandemic, this was subject to prevailing travel conditions and visa requirements.

       The NASA Space Apps Challenge is a 48-hour international hackathon where designers, scientists, coders and storytellers use NASA’s open data to solve real-world problems on earth and in space.