On March 22nd, 2025, the Sustainable Martian Technology Hackathon (SMTH2025) took place at Polytechnique de Montréal, marking a significant milestone in fostering entrepreneurial and technological innovation for Mars and beyond. Organized by the Mars Society of Canada (MSC) in collaboration with PolyOrbite and ASTROLITH, this event brought together university students and early-career professionals to tackle sustainability challenges through ‘Earth x MARS’ innovations.
The goal of the hackathon was to cultivate entrepreneurial skills among participants while advancing technology solutions for sustainable living in extreme environments, particularly on Mars. Through a rigorous and collaborative format, teams engaged in an intense day of design, prototyping, and pitching their innovative ideas to a panel of judges.
The event was led by Amanda Spilkin, Fundraising Coordinator at MSC, whose background as an investment associate at Front Row Ventures played an important role in shaping the hackathon’s structure. The SMTH challenged participants to apply their skills in design thinking, rapid prototyping, and business strategy formulation. She was joined in co-hosting by Zaid Rana and Dr. Pooneh Maghoul from ASTROLITH, as well as Roman Alejandro Roman Canizalez, Director of PolyOrbite. The organizing team gathered speakers and a judging committee that could connect entrepreneurship with expertise in space resource engineering, aerospace technology, and infrastructure development, which was instrumental in fostering an environment where the next generation of scientists and engineers could take their first steps into entrepreneurship within these fields.
The judging committee featured distinguished experts, including Christian Beaubien (Entrepreneur in Residence at Garage&Co; HardTech Incubator), Christopher Teil (Propolys), Dr. Samra Keivanpour (Professor at Polytechnique de Montréal), Thomas Nurmi (Front Row Ventures), and Ghassan Maraouch (Lead Designer at Heart Squared). Special keynote presentations were delivered by Pierre Vuaillet (Sustainability and In-Situ Resource Utilization of Space Resources) and Christian Beaubien (Bringing Lab2Market).
The SMTH2025 Committee congratulates two participating teams who tied in the pitch competition:
- Project Lunar, presented by Ayleen Aamir, Noora Hamodi, and Joseph Hum-Wong
- MOOMASON: Self-Building Lunar and Martian Habitats with ISRU and Robotics, presented by Maelle Mathieu (Dr. Pooneh Maghoul)
The event was brought to life with the collaboration and support of key members from each organization, including Glenn Scott (President of the Mars Society of Canada), Hanieh Provencher (Board of Directors of the Mars Society of Canada), Yianni Hudon Castillo (Mars Society of Canada), Dr. Pooneh Maghoul (Co-Founder of ASTROLITH, Polytechnique Montréal), Clea Cormerais (PolyOrbite, Polytechnique de Montréal), and Mike Kennedy (Mars Society of Canada).
As a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Sustainable Martian Technology Hackathon has set a precedent for future editions. The organizers envision making it an annual event, continuing to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to push the boundaries of space technology for a sustainable future—on Mars and Earth alike. With the SMTH2025 wrapped up, the Mars Society of Canada continues investing in its’ STEM mandate with the ongoing development of the MEMES trailer, set to launch live classroom courses under the Mars Explorer Program in Fall 2025. Please see our sponsorship package to contribute to our activities and projects!
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