The Dream Team program is an exciting new element of the 2020 Hackaday Prize, with twelve people accepted to work full-time on a specific problem for each of our non-profit partners this summer. Each team of three is already deep into an engineering sprint to pull together a design, and to recognize their efforts, they’ll be receiving a $3,000 monthly microgrant during the two-month program.

Join us after the break to meet the people that make up each of the teams and get a taste of what they’re working on. We’ll be following along as they publish detailed work logs on the Dream Team project pages.

Conservation X Labs Dream Team

Erin “RobotGrrl” Kennedy, Oluwatobi Oyinlola, and Leonardo Ward have been selected for the Conservation X Labs Dream Team. Erin is the technical founder of Robot Missions, recently completed the Space Studies Program at the International Space University, and is from Ontario, Canada. Oluwatobi is an Embedded Systems Engineer, Inventor, and IoT Evangelist from Ibadan, Nigeria. Leonardo is an electronics engineer who works on future technologies and lives in La Guaira, Venezuela.

Together they are working on the challenge of reducing ghost gear in the world’s oceans, the equipment from fishing and maritime industries that doesn’t make it back to the ship and remains in the environment as pollution.

Field Ready Dream Team

Antonio Anaya, Meesha Gupta, and Thomas Hartley have been selected for the Field Ready Dream Team. Antonio has experience adapting methodologies and tools for use in remote and difficult environments, and lives in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. Meesha is an electrical engineer who’s worked on building prosthetic arms and lives in Schenectady, New York. Tom is a design engineer with backgrounds in computer science and electronics who lives in London, UK.

Together they are working on the challenge of ensuring quality control of distributed manufacturing processes. When developing on-site manufacturing in remote areas and disaster relief situations, a feedback loop for what worked and what didn’t will multiply the effectiveness of the efforts.

CalEarth Dream Team

Sameera Chukkapalli, Jason Knight, and Alex Whittemore have been selected for the CalEarth Dream Team. Sameera is an advanced architect and director of Needlab in Barcelona, Spain. Jason is a product designer interested in biological fabrication and design who lives in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Alex is an electronics engineer with expertise in design for manufacture who lives in Manhattan Beach, California.

Together they are working on the challenge of automating parts of the building process for SuperAdobe housing. The labor that goes into the earthen building system is the most expensive and time-consuming part of this building process, and any efficiency gain means more housing at reduced time and expense.

United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles Dream Team

Kelvin Chow, Ruben Kackstaetter, and Nataliya Kosmyna have been selected for the UCPLA Dream Team. Kelvin is a mechanical and biomedical engineer from Toronto, Canada. Ruben is an embedded software engineer with a background in electrical engineer who lives in Frederick, Colorado. Nataliya is an MIT researcher and entrepreneur with a Ph.D in computer science who lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Together they are working on the challenge of designing a new type of universal remote to meet the needs of physically challenged individuals. One-off accessibility devices are surprisingly expensive and require specialized skills to integrate into everyday life. This dream team will work to break down barriers of cost and usability for people living with a range of physical challenges.

We Want to See Your Projects in the Hackaday Prize!

Congratulations to all of the Dream Team members, it’s exciting to see people from all over the world come together to work on the challenge. Of course that’s the point of the Hackaday Prize, and we want to see everyone spending some cycles to tackle hard problems.

You have until August 31st to submit your own entry in any of the challenge categories of the 2020 Hackaday Prize. You’ll be solving real-world issues highlighted by this year’s non-profit partners, and be in the running for a $50,000 grand prize and nine other top prizes. We can’t wait to see what you’re working on!

The HackadayPrize2020 is Sponsored by: