New Tech Northwest Community Partner Spotlight: James Burk, Lead Organizer, Space Apps Seattle

Each week in the New Tech Newsletter we feature a Spotlight Q&A with founders, angels, New Tech alumni presenters, and other people or companies in our community we believe you’d like to learn about. Reach out if you’d like to recommend a startup, founder, angel, accelerator, or New Tech alumni presenter for us to spotlight for the PNW tech community!

This week we spoke with James Burk, Lead Organizer of Space Apps Seattle

James Burk.    Space Apps Seattle

What inspired creating the hackathon?
This is part of the global NASA Space Apps Challenge which has been going on for many years.  I became the local lead for Seattle in 2020 and helped pivot us to a virtual event for the past two years.  I have a passion for helping people learn about space and prepare to be part of the new space economy which I believe will be really ramping up in the coming years.  

How does your conference serve the tech community?
Our event gets people learning new skills and working together to solve a challenge.  Each team has many challenges to choose from, each of which will be impactful for humanity’s future not only in space but here on Earth.

What’s the most innovative or interesting thing about this year’s event?
We are hoping to be back in person and hosting the event in a tech-focused workspace.  The virtual events went well, but, in my opinion, there’s nothing that compares to hunkering down with a team and having whiteboard design sessions.

What do you love the most about this event?
I get to meet new people that, like me, are pursuing an interest in both space and software development.

What is one of the highlights, or memorable moments, for you in doing this work?
Mentoring young people, who are a key part of the future we are building.

 

Reach out if you’d like to recommend a startup, founder, angel, accelerator, or New Tech alumni presenter for us to spotlight for the PNW tech community!

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