Student Scientific Circle ‘HMI’ Wins Special Award at Hackathon
On 24 and 25 May 2025, the team of the student scientific circle ‘HMI’, Magdalena Borowiec, Paweł Jędryczka, Piotr Wieleba, Bartosz Korycki, Kamil Kaczmarek and Gracjan Kochanowski–Ossowski (honorary member), took part in the international Hackathon SpaceShield Hack powered by Space4Talents, co-financed by the EU with funds from the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Urban Initiative (EUI).
The aim of the hackathon was the development of innovative ideas from one of four categories:
* SPACE [Monitoring and prediction, weather data analysis from space],
* DEFENCE [Critical communication systems resistant to jamming and spoofing],
* DOUBLE USE [drone systems],
* OPEN [open topic, in support of the development of the city of Stalowa Wola].
The HMI team worked hard for the whole day on a proposed concept in the category of Defence. The result of their work is a secure communication system operating in the UHF-K band, based on SDR technology, featuring adaptive modulation and a hybrid encryption layer combining AES and post-quantum algorithms.
Both the high technical standard and the well-developed business aspect were highly praised by the Judges, resulting in the awarding of two special prizes: ECSS Navigator – a dedicated web-based tool for the space industry from the company Costrum, and a business session with a company from Taiwan provided by the company 8FOUNDRY, which may represent a chance to turn their idea into reality.
More than 200 people took part in the Hackathon and were accompanied by 80 mentors.
Participation in the event allowed these individuals to make inspiring contacts with others and gain valuable pointers, which may prove to be helpful in the progression of their careers.
