The results of 2019 have been summed up, and now we plan for 2020. Here’s a quick recap of this year’s events. We placed the events in 4 categories to make it easier for you to find those you want to be part of. So mark your calendar and join us.
Tech
Noosphere will organize two technology events in 2020. BestRoboFest, the fifth-anniversary tech festival for the whole family, will be held in Dnipro on June 6-7. As always, the focus of the festival will be robotics competitions. Last year the competitions gathered a record number of participants: 106 teams and 49 individuals. This year, we want even more young enthusiasts to join. If you want to try your hand, you are welcome to participate. The festival will also include an expo zone that will entertain visitors with numerous robotics, engineering and rocketry workshops.
Another tech event by Noosphere will be held in Kyiv on October 14-15. Engineering startup competition Vernadsky Challenge is back for the fifth time. The event aims to introduce new engineering talent and future “unicorns”. The following is the procedure for the event. First, we look for applications. We then choose 10 finalists from all the participants who will pitch their projects and compete for the prize pool of 2 mln UAH. In 2019 we streamlined our focus to look at space technologies and active bioelectronic startups. This year we are also looking for startups in these areas only. If you are ready to present your project to the public, then apply here.
Space
Noosphere’s leading 2020 space event will be the Noosphere Space Art Challenge. It is an art contest for children ages 3-17, with bright imaginations and a desire to show what talented artists they are. Last year we received 7427 space drawings: 4000 Ukrainian astronauts and rockets, 2000 aliens, 200 cats in space, etc. The youngest participant was only 2 years old. Starting March 1, we will begin accepting applications. Stay tuned and follow the challenge’s official Facebook page.
Another space event to watch for in 2020 is Star Track. It is a rocket and space technology tournament that aims to engage more young scientists and space enthusiasts in exploring these areas. It has grown significantly since its beginning. In 2019, 75 young people united into 21 teams to compete for the main prize – 25,000 UAH. This year, we want to see more teams as well as more innovative projects in rocketry and space technologies. Star Track will be held twice this year: March 28 and November 7.
The next space-related event to be held in Dnipro is ActInSpace. It is an international space competition organized by the French Space Agency with the support of ESA and the ESA Business Incubation Centres network. The event has been held worldwide since 2018, and this year Noosphere joined the competition. ActInSpace will be held in Dnipro for the first time on April 24-25.
The last event in the space category will be NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro. Space Apps is a worldwide hackathon, first held in 2012. The hackathon brings together space enthusiasts from all over the world. Participants have only 48 hours to solve the challenges that NASA faces on a daily basis. Each country-participant chooses 2 finalists to compete on a global scale. The global winner gets a chance to visit a NASA facility. Noosphere joined Space Apps in 2017. We will host our fourth local hackathon on October 3-4.
Sports
Noosphere encourages sports activity among its specialists and also involves those from other companies. In 2019, over 1000 people took part in Noosphere sports tournaments. This year we are increasing the number of sporting events. In addition to the traditional Noosphere Volleyball IT Cup in April, Noosphere Basketball 3×3 IT Cup in July, and Noosphere Volley Beach IT Cup in August, we are also organizing these other sports competitions.
Two competitions are coming in February: eSports IT Marathon is for all the cyber-games fans and Noosphere Bowling IT Cup is for amateur and professional bowlers. Noosphere Sporting Challenge: Spring Edition and Noosphere Sporting Challenge: Autumn Edition, which aim to add some sports to daily life, are scheduled to take place in April and October respectively. There will also be Noosphere events for fans of football and racing: Noosphere Football Cup in May and Noosphere Karting Cup in June. Follow the Noosphere Sport Facebook page for the latest updates.
Partner
Along with its own events, Noosphere collaborates with various organizations on partnering arrangements.
The first event in this category will be held in partnership with Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. Dnipro Economic Forum 2020 is scheduled for March 19-20. The Forum will focus on space and IT technologies. The event will become a platform for discussing new opportunities in these fields and attracting investment for their development.
Firefly International Rocketry Event (FIRE) is another partner event planned for March 26-28. FIRE is organized jointly by Noosphere, Firefly Aerospace, Ukrainian Spacemodelling Sport Federation, and National Rocketry Association of USA. It is a match-type competition for Ukrainian and American teams’ model rockets.
Ukraine Rocketry Challenge is a pioneering event in 2020, organized in conjunction with Ukraine Spacemodelling Sport Federation (FRMS). Participants must complete two flights using eggs as a fragile payload. The event is intended to educate youth in space and rocketry, and will be held on 1-2 of May.
A few more rocketry events are planned for the summer, in cooperation with FRMS: Ukrainian Championships for Space Models and Yangel Cup: FAI World Cup for Space Models. The first will take place from June 24 to June 30, and the second from June 26 to 28. Both of these competitions are for space models. They aim to engage more young space and rocketry fans in the field and unleash their potential.
This list will be updated with more events as we hear back from our partners. Stay tuned!
