Dream Team – an international team of students from UITM – got the 1st place in category „Open” in the AviaTech Challenge Hackathon in Mielec. Their project was to create safe spaces for people with neurodiversity at airports. The largest aviation hackathon in Europe was attended by almost 400 participants working in over 90 teams.
Hackathon AviaTech Challenge, which took place on May 18-19 in Mielec, was the largest event of this type in Europe and one of the largest in the world.
Nearly 25 hours of work, 400 participants from all over Poland and not only, over 90 projects. The struggles of the players were supported by extraordinary mentors – practitioners from the world’s largest companies in the aviation industry. The University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów was a partner of the event with the title „Aviation Management Partner”.
Participants carried out their projects in five categories: open, dual use/defense, unmanned aerial vehicles, air transport ecology and air transport safety. The prepared works had a very even level, and the final victory was decided by the details.
The first place in the AviaTech Challenge hackathon in Mielec went to the GPNoise team, which included students of the Rzeszów University of Technology. They have developed a project aimed at immunizing civil aviation units against increasingly frequent cases of GPS signal interference in regions adjacent to regions with unstable geopolitical situation.
Second place went to SKNTL from Warsaw University of Technology, and their project was to increase safety at airports by quickly detecting and extinguishing fires using modern fire cannon technology.
On the third step of the podium were representatives of the team Boys WIMIRowcy. Participants focused on the proposal of a modular drone for non-destructive testing, which will be used in both civilian and military solutions.
The organizers, in cooperation with the event partners, also prepared five categories of tasks dealing with all elements related to broadly understood aviation.
In the Open category, the victory was won by the Kazakh-Polish Dream Team from the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów. Its members developed a project to help people with neurodiversity while staying at airports. The idea of the project is based on creating a specially prepared safe space equipped with products that calm down and promote calming.
A diverse team was important. We gathered people from different backgrounds and skills, which helped us analyze our idea from different perspectives and quickly solve potential problems. The choice of idea was one of the most difficult decisions. We spent a lot of time refining it, consulting with over 40 mentors. Throughout the project, we also consulted with a professional psychologist. Mutual communication and bringing our own ideas helped us maintain a broad perspective of this project. I am very grateful for this opportunity. This experience will undoubtedly affect my approach to future projects and professional achievements – said Yelnur Mukhamedkarim, a third-year student of Aviation Management.
The most interesting aspect of our work was networking. We spent 24 hours talking and working within our team, but also with other teams and professionals. It was fantastic to look at one topic from so many different perspectives and be able to get to know the daily work of different people. In my opinion, the most important part of our task was choosing the right idea. Even if you work hard, the wrong idea can spoil everything and make all efforts pointless. The hackathon is also about having fun, regardless of whether you win it or not – says Aziza Zharylkassinova, a third-year student of International Business Management.
Apart from Yelnur Mukhamedkarim and Aziza Zharylkassinova, Dream Team also included: Zhanarys Malik and Abdulla Avdillaev, studying Programming, as well as Liliana Żywicka and Anna Sozańska studying computer graphics and multimedia production.
The teams competed in extremely intense conditions for just over 24 hours they were to create innovative projects in 5 thematic areas. I am very impressed how most teams perfectly coped with such a voluminous task, additionally working all the time under stressful time pressure. I am very pleased that one of the UITM teams dealt with the subject of social equality and presented the full concept of creating a special zone for passengers with neurodiversity in the airport terminal, for whom moving around the airport is a huge challenge. It is proud that the team consists of international students from various majors offered by the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów – summarizes Michał Nędza, jury and lecturer of the UITM in the field of Aviation Management.
The double victory was recorded by representatives of GPnoiSe, who won the competition in the dual use / defense category. This category was designed with the support of the Partner, the Polish Development Fund.
The Euro avia team deserved a distinction in the Unmanned Aircraft category. The category was held under the patronage of AIRBORN, and the winning team developed an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle, providing, among others, terrain photography services.
In the Aviation Transport Ecology category, the award from the jury was given to the Pero Drone team, which worked on the use of printed solar cells based on perovskites to support the power supply of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Air transport safety is a category that took place under the patronage of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport. Ulma families. The special prize was awarded to the Jus Tunnel Team, who prepared the concept of the check-in tunnel, with the help of which we can carry out processes such as: identity verification, printing the boarding pass and giving checked baggage and passing through security control.
The financial prize pool in the hackathon amounted to over PLN 120,000, the best teams also received the opportunity for internships, internships, and professional consultations. Unique prizes were also waiting for the winners.
