2020 Judge Requirements

We are looking for both Mentors and Judges that can help provide feedback to, review projects, and help select the two Global Nominees among the teams in our event, who will be advancing to Global Judging of the 2020 NASA Space Apps Challenge.

We will be selecting Judges from among the pool of confirmed Mentors. Becoming a Mentor (by letting us know your interest) is your first step to judging.

We are planning a judging panel & mentors which collectively includes expertise in the following areas:

  • Open data
  • Science
  • Humanities
  • Communications and storytelling
  • Business & Startups
  • Space-related Technology
  • Information Technology
  • Other areas relevant to the challenges and projects being developed

Those interested in mentoring or judging for our local event can contact us at admins@spaceappsseattle.org


Recommended Local Judging Criteria

Step 1: Please use the following criteria to evaluate the projects (to the best of your ability). The GO Team will provide a template you can share with Local Judges by mid-September, but use is optional. You may create a more structured evaluation rubric for your Local Judges, if you’d like.

  • Impact: How much impact (quality and quantity) can this project have? Does it solve a big problem or a little problem? Will it inspire or help many, or a few?
  • Creativity: How creative/innovative is the approach? Is the project novel and something that hasn’t been attempted before, or is it an incremental improvement on something that already exists?
  • Validity: Is the solution scientifically valid? Will it do what it sets out to do? Can it work in the real world?
  • Relevance: Is this project responsive to the challenge for which it was submitted? Is it a complete solution or does it have a long way to go? Is it technically feasible? How usable or user friendly is the solution?
  • Presentation: How well did the team communicate their project? Were they effective in telling the story of the project: the challenge, the solution, and why is it important?

Step 2: Please ensure that Global Nominees meet the following minimum requirements. 

  • The project must respond to one of the official Space Apps 2020 challenge statements. (“Projects submitted in response “Invent Your Own Challenge” are not eligible.)
  • The team should clearly show how space agency datasets, products, or resources (from NASA and/or partner agencies) were integrated into their project.
  • The project page must include a link to code in a public repository (if applicable). 
  • The team must provide a demo (e.g. a video or slides) that showcases their project via a public link. Teams should defer to the Project Submission Guide for specific details.
  • All links must be public and working properly. That is, links should not require permission or registration to access them. (Please work directly with the Local Lead and teams to create public links, as needed.)
  • The team must use English language on the project page. (Videos can be in other languages but must include English language subtitles.)
  • The project page must not contain profanity or inappropriate language.