Three Computer Science students from the University of Bristol have taken first prize at the prestigious European Space Agency’s ‘App Camp’.
Lewis Bell, Brendon Warwick, Jay Lees and Charlie Harding were chosen out of thousands of hopefuls from across Europe and Canada to take part in the project following the success of the app they built earlier this year to help people decide who to vote for in the last set of elections.
“Right now we’re working with some connections we made at the University to advise us and we’re very excited for the future ahead”
Travelling to Rome for an intense and insightful week, ‘Space App Camp’ brings programmers together to develop creative and innovative apps that make Earth observation data – particularly from the Copernicus satellite – accessible to a wide range of citizens.
The team’s winning app ‘Air’ uses data available from the satellite to give flight passengers an interactive bird’s eye view of their route, as well as facts about the cities and landmarks they pass over.
Brendon (pictured left) says: “Being flown out to beautiful Frascati was an amazing experience provided by the ESA that we will never forget. After winning, we were advised to start a company, so right now we’re working with some connections we made at the University to advise us; we are very excited for the future ahead.”
And with a prize of €2,500 as well as potential funding support from the European Space Agency’s partners if they choose to bring the app to the market – you may well be using this innovative app on your future travels.
Stay tuned to news of this team’s entrepreneurial journey and other news from the University by checking out the University of Bristol news site, or by following them on Twitter here: @BristolUni.

Shona Wright
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