MOME’s Jump into the Future! creative competition encourages teenagers from Hungary and the other side of the border to share their ideas about the future. Year by year, it introduces applicants who are about to choose their career paths to the concept, questions, solutions, and responsibilities of design while laying the foundations of interdisciplinary learning, linking to general education subjects, and helping relate to existing knowledge. 

This year’s winning concept Floating Garden by the RoboHerbs team is a greenhouse structure in space designed to combat future food shortages resulting from the decline of arable land caused by overpopulation and global warming by growing genetically modified plants that can withstand extreme conditions and bear fruit fast. Team RoboHerbs consists of Szonja Kuspi, Luca Márton, Adrienn Rácz, and Tamás Varga from the SZC István Vedres High School Szeged with Lilla Egervölgyi as supervising teacher, and Éva Tornyánszki and Vladimir Schuller as their MOME mentors. 

The floating gardens are envisioned as space-based facilities where genetically modified plants are cultivated. One example is the “spring roll” plant, where every part, from root to fruit, is edible and provide various nutrients and flavours, and some components can even be used to prepare an actual spring roll. Harvested by drones, these plants can be purchased by space station inhabitants and Earth dwellers alike, and are transported via a lift system. Consumers can contribute to more efficient plant cultivation by using their exercise energy in special gyms. 

The second prize went to the Gene Bank project, aimed at ethically assisting humans in terraforming new planets. According to the concept, humanity began exploring the habitability of other planets in response to the climate crisis. To start populating planets that show signs of habitability however, society will need the services of the Gene Bank, which include the preservation of plant and animal genome, as well as terraforming carried out by specialised robot workers. In addition to the storage system and the terraforming package service, the company would also place a strong emphasis on promoting ethical terraforming. The team consists of Bernadett Gesztes and Franciska Kocsis of the Szent László High School Kőbánya. Their supervising teacher was Pók Tímea, and their MOME mentors were Melinda Doktor and András Egressy.   

The Space Explorers team – Hanna Liza Ambrus, Bianka Bán, Darinka Doncsecz, Anna Szeli, and Jázmin Nikoletta Szita from the Sport and Creative Technical School in Győr – took third place. Their Marsula Base concept involves a base on the red planet dedicated to mining precious metals and other raw materials to replenish Earth's depleting resources. Besides mining, the base offers various jobs and activities to ensure the well-being of its workers, including medical care and popular recreational sports. Residents live in compact, panoramic apartments and enjoy delicious meals made from ingredients supplied from Earth. Marsula is more than a workplace: it is also a tight-knit community. The team had Flóra Mihály as their supporting teacher, and MOME mentors Anna Kocsis and Zsolt Pataki. 

The special award was given to LifeBubble, a concept for providing necessary living space on a space station while Earth recover, In the wake of humanity deciding to leave Earth temporarily in 2044 to facilitate the rehabilitation of the planet. A temporary home is provided by a space station where apartments and communal areas are created using rooms equipped with Bubble™ technology. The space station has everything we are familiar with on Earth – you can picnic in the ParkBubble and enjoy a cheeseburger in McBubble. People live in LifeBubble apartments – multifunctional, darkenable bubbles with walls made of 360-degree touchscreens, which, at just a touch, can make the bubbles move and connect to a friend's living unit. Tököm Paszuly, the team responsible for the project consists of Emma Bükki and Márk Martinkovics from the László Magyar High School in Dunaföldvár, with teacher Mrs. László Sándor Gábor and MOME mentors Janka Csernák and Dávid Balázs. 

The winners not only received participation in a MOME TechPark workshop, a Jegy.hu gift voucher, and tickets to the Light Art Museum, but also life-changing experiences and career guidance. The popularity of the competition is evidenced by the registration of dozens to teams this year, with teamwork and extracurricular learning as the greatest appeals. 

The finale of the Jump to the Future! 2024 competition can be viewed here: