KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) - A pair of Katy ISD students reached the top 1% of NASA's global technology competition, earning international recognition for their agricultural water management app.
Tompkins High School senior Sahus Gupta and junior May Lynn Espinola received Honorable Mention in the 2024 NASA International Space Apps Challenge. Their entry was among fewer than 20 selected for this distinction from nearly 10,000 submissions by 95,000 participants worldwide.
Their app, "FarmVis," helps farmers optimize water usage by leveraging NASA's open-source data. The project addresses critical agricultural challenges including unpredictable weather patterns, pest management and crop diseases that affect food security and farm profitability.
"We are so proud of Sahus and May Lynn for this accomplishment, and for being counted among the world's best in this competition," said Elisabeth Brodt, principal of Tompkins High School. "It's gratifying to know that what our students learn in our classrooms can influence what they do in the future and what they're doing now."
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge connects coders, scientists and designers with NASA's open data to develop solutions for real-world problems. The competition draws entries from working professionals, college students and high school students globally.
For more information about the competition, visit spaceappschallenge.org.