Courtesy FSU
Students from Florida State University and Ukraine recently joined forces to tackle an urgent global challenge: rebuilding cities devastated by natural disasters and war.
The five-day virtual hackathon brought together American and Ukrainian students to develop innovative solutions for reconstruction efforts.
“Hack Disaster: The International Hackathon to Rebuild Cities” connected 32 FSU students with 17 peers from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU). The FSU Innovation Hub organized the event in partnership with FSU’s Ukraine Task Force and the Ukrainian-based Hackathon Expert Group.
International Collaboration in Action
Nine interdisciplinary teams, each combining students from both countries, worked to address the growing challenges of natural and manmade disasters. The teams focused on using design thinking and advanced technology to assess building damage and estimate reconstruction costs.
“It was a true partnership from the earliest planning to the emotional conclusion,” said Ken Baldauf, director of the Innovation Hub at FSU. “We blended design methodologies from the FSU Innovation Hub with a hackathon framework from the Ukrainian Hackathon Expert Group. The results were even more impressive and impactful than we had hoped for.”
Award-Winning Innovation
The winning team, “Clear Sight Disaster Suite,” developed a concept for a mobile command-and-control center using shipping containers, complete with a graphical user interface. The team included FSU students Calen Sims, Kathleen Ticer, Ethan Long, and Farhana Taiyebah, alongside KNU students Kyrylo Bonduryansky and Daniia Kravchuk.
Sims, project manager and a master’s student in systems engineering at FSU Panama City, called it a “transformative experience.”
He earned his undergraduate degree in computer engineering from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering while at FSU Panama City in 2021 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in systems engineering at the same location.
“The event not only challenged my technical skills, but also expanded my understanding of project management, systems engineering, interdisciplinary problem-solving and the importance of global collaboration,” he said. “This experience instilled in me a commitment to leveraging my skills to solve real-world challenges.”
Seeds of Collaboration
The hackathon emerged from a summer visit by Taras Panchenko, KNU’s computer science department head, to FSU through the BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Program. The program aims to support Ukraine’s recovery through partnerships with U.S. universities.
“All of the BridgeUSA Fellows are spectacular educators,” said Vilma Fuentes, program director of the FSU Ukraine Task Force. “They live in the world of innovation and are trying to find engaging learning opportunities for their students in the midst of Russia’s daily missile and drone attacks.”
Expert Support
The event drew support from faculty across multiple disciplines, including:
- Data science
- Computer science
- Artificial intelligence
- Engineering
- Emergency management
- Entrepreneurship
- Communications
The planning committee included leaders from FSU’s Innovation Hub, Learning Systems Institute, Department of Scientific Computing, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program, and School of Information.
For more information about the Innovation Hub at FSU, visit innovation.fsu.edu. To learn more about FSU’s Ukraine Task Force, visit lsi.fsu.edu/fsu-ukraine-task-force.
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