2023 Design and Research Conference

U-Market

Team Members: Jacob Craver, Daniel Etkind, Tyler Kranz, Leandro Londin, Zachary Uson

Advisor: Dr. Andrey Timofeyev

U-Market is an e-commerce platform for university students to purchase, sell, or exchange goods with others with the peace of mind that every user is a fellow student. Students can choose either in-person or online transactions. U-Market provides a layer of security for in-person transactions by sending the seller a QR code that only the correct buyer can scan to verify a transaction. Online transactions utilize PayPal, a 3rd party payment processor, to provide a secure online checkout experience. With U-Market, we aim to connect sellers and buyers through meaningful interactions and unique goods in a secure platform.

CLAB

Team Members: Aaron Earp, Samuel Evans, Nathan Granade, David Jara, Thomas Nguyen

Advisor: Mr. John Spurgeon

CLAB, short for collab, is a music songwriting tool to make learning, transcribing, and creating music notation easier for musicians and musicologists. CLAB uses artificial intelligence algorithms to detect notes and rhythms in audio files. CLAB is targeted toward professionals in the music industry as well as intermediate musicians looking for a way to create music notation from audio recordings. Users can create and store music notation with the click of a button using CLAB.

Mello

Team Members: Reid Trisler, James Vieux, Thien Vu

Sponsor: Mark Morris, Fenway Group

Advisor: Dr. Kevin Cherry

Starting off as an independent adult can be overwhelming, and it can be challenging to manage newfound responsibilities. Mello is a tool targeted toward young adults to help manage different aspects of their lives efficiently. The app offers features that help users plan out their day-to-day life. Mello users can plan their schedules by utilizing the app’s time management and grocery features to create an agenda with upcoming events and reminders, meal plans for each day of the week, and grocery and recipe lists. In addition to the life management features, Mello users can complete objectives around the app and earn experience points and coins that can be used to level up their personal character as a way to incentivize engagement.

Locked Out

Team Members: Mary Nations, Ty Pederson, Benjamin Sanguinetti, Matthew Tucker

Advisor: Dr. Brad Glisson

Locked Out is a cybersecurity-themed virtual reality game in which every level is an office-themed escape room designed with specific security challenges that introduce and reinforce cybersecurity lessons and themes, such as common security exploits. The game is being developed alongside Dr. Brad Glisson as a part of a grant to create a virtual reality game that will increase high school and early college students’ interest in cybersecurity. Our goal is to fill the ever-growing demand in the cybersecurity workforce.

Parking Occupancy Detection System (PODS)

Team Members:  Corey Belk-Scroggins, Garrett Jones, Brianna Stewart, Landon Tomkins

Advisor: Dr. Brad Glisson

PODS is a mobile web application that detects whether parking spaces on campus are occupied in real-time to determine the most efficient and time-saving parking lot to use. The current state of Louisiana Tech’s parking availability is inconvenient for students trying to park on campus at peak times. The system control flow begins with a camera equipped with power over ethernet (PoE) to capture an image at specified intervals. The back-end runs the image through a trained computer vision model using TensorFlow. The data is stored in a MySQL database, where an API handles the communication of data between the database and the web server. The web server communicates that information with the API to present the parking availability on a mobile web application with the front-end and back-end created using NodeJS and React. The client-facing web application gives the user multiple options to view information. The “Available Parking” webpage displays a map of the lot and the number of spots available based on their role. The lot activity web page displays trend data for a selected parking lot over a period of time. This system provides students, faculty, staff, and even visitors the ability to locate available parking spaces with ease from anywhere.

Journal Together

Team Members:  Joshua Bailey, John Doherty, Kennedy Ford, Brendan Guillory

Advisor: Mr. Ron Lewis

Journal Together is an innovative and intuitive application designed for journaling enthusiasts. Written in Dart using Flutter, this app offers a seamless experience with its user-friendly interface, ensuring that every user can easily document their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. What sets Journal Together apart from other journaling apps is its use of GitHub as the back-end storage for all entries. For this feature, users only need a GitHub account to store their data. With Journal Together, users can easily access their journals across multiple devices without the fear of losing their valuable content. In addition to its robust storage capabilities, Journal Together offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to personalize their journaling experience. From choosing different fonts to inserting blocks of code, users can make their journals truly their own. Whether you want to keep a daily record of your thoughts, track your personal growth, or simply express yourself creatively, Journal Together is the perfect app for you. With its powerful features, seamless interface, and unparalleled ease of use, Journal Together is the ultimate journaling app for anyone and everyone to use.

AutoAid

Team Members: Keiser Dallas, Daniel Davis, Amiyah Frierson, Frankie Lavall, Dylan Weaver

Advisor: Dr. Miguel Gates

AutoAid is an Android app that provides mechanical assistance for vehicles. Once the user creates an account, they can enter their VIN (vehicle identification number) and any current troubles they are experiencing with their vehicle. AutoAid will then access the CarMD API to provide a detailed analysis of the vehicle in relation to the reported issues. The user will receive suggestions on how to fix the problems, along with a cost analysis. If the issues cannot be reasonably identified or resolved by the user, they can also search for local auto shops. The app also includes a feature that allows the user to set reminders for routine maintenance, such as oil changes and tire rotations. This helps the user stay on top of vehicle maintenance and avoid costly repairs down the road. AutoAid is a simple and intuitive resource for those with limited knowledge of vehicle mechanics and troubleshooting, helping them fix their car at home and avoid being overcharged by mechanics. Whether you are inexperienced or an expert, AutoAid gives drivers the confidence to make informed decisions when it comes to vehicle repair.

Save Me A Room Today (SMART)

Team Members: Andrew Redfield, David Riser, Zachary Surla, Terence Tugwell

Sponsor: Louisiana Tech Support

Advisor: Mr. Ron Lewis

Save Me a Room Today (SMART) is an Android application that allows users to request room reservations across campus based on which college they are admitted to. Users create an account with a username, password, email, and college information. This account is designated as a general user and can be given extra permissions upon request. Upon account creation, the app allows users to request reservations, update, cancel, and keep track of them at any given time. For a user to request a reservation, they have to provide a list of information that the app guides them through. The user selects a building, date, time range, and occupancy. Then, the app provides them with a list of rooms that fit their criteria, allowing them to request the room they wish to reserve. Admin accounts have privileges over a given college and, thus, are able to manage reservations for that college’s buildings. These admins can accept or deny incoming requests as well as view all already accepted requests. The app is programmed in Kotlin and contains two external components: a database hosted through MySQL Workbench, and a custom-built API coded using Node.js® hosted through an AWS EC2 instance.

Code Trather

Team Members: David Anthon, Brendon Burd, Meagan Kropp, Jonathan Trahan

Advisor: Mr. Kyle Prather

Code Trather is a Python Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that addresses the issue of cheating during in-class coding assignments. Our IDE is equipped with essential features such as Python syntax highlighting, command line input, and the ability to upload Python unit test files for auto-grading. With our application, students can write, debug, and test their code all in one place, providing convenience and efficiency. To ensure academic integrity, our IDE logs student keystrokes, monitors their window activity, tracks running processes, and encrypts all submitted assignments to prevent unauthorized access. The app comes in two parts: one is the student version that is distributed to students, and the other is the teacher version. The student version includes all the features above while the teacher version is designed to help the teacher access/manage the students’ work. Our C# Windows Form app is built in Visual Studio and is designed to help instructors maintain fair evaluation and promote academic integrity. Our project provides a valuable tool for students and educators alike, enabling a better learning experience, and paving the way for a more honest and equitable academic environment.

StickIT

Team Members: Evan Goodman-Blue, Emily Hollis, Seonghoon Yi, Drew Young

Sponsor: Steven Galloway, Fenway Group

Advisor: Mr. Kyle Prather

Stick-It is a web annotation Chrome extension designed to enrich the learning experience and foster collaboration among open-source textbook users. Users can highlight critical or intriguing points within the text. Additionally, this innovative extension enables users to actively participate in discussions by leaving comments, sparking conversations, and exchanging ideas with others. The extension’s main features provide users the ability to create and manage annotations, explore notes and comments from fellow users, and engage in ongoing discussions. It allows users to personalize their learning experience by posing questions on specific sections of texts or responding to others’ inquiries. We’ve utilized AWS RDS for database management to bring this extension to life, ensuring a scalable and dependable storage solution for user-generated content. The back-end is powered by Node.js®, providing a swift and efficient platform for managing requests and interactions between the extension and the database. By leveraging these technologies, we address challenges such as creating a user-friendly interface, safeguarding data security, and ensuring optimal performance in a collaborative learning environment. Our project aspires to transform how users interact with open-source educational materials, promoting a sense of community and fostering knowledge-sharing among learners.

Flying Burger App Template

Team Members: Cori Allbritton, Joshua Authement, Ryan Callicott, Christian Evans, Sara Grey

Sponsor: Ruston Flying Burger & Seafood

Advisor: Mr. Kyle Prather

The Flying Burger & Seafood app is a mobile device template modeled after the Flying Burger & Seafood restaurant in Ruston, Louisiana. This app is compatible with mobile devices running operating systems such as Android and iOS. The mobile app template represents the straightforward navigability and use of many other highly-rated food applications while being faithful to the Flying Burger & Seafood franchise and structured, more specifically, after the Ruston, Louisiana, location. This is accomplished by displaying the menu and prices for the local restaurant and providing many choices for customizing the vast catalog. Patrons can also browse the menu quickly, examine featured items only available in their area, and keep track of their most recent meal orders. The inspiration for the application came from the client’s desire to find a more cost-efficient method of food delivery or pick-up without sacrificing convenience since the establishment has been paying expensive fees to DoorDash. The ultimate objective has been to develop an application enabling customers to improve browsing and communication with the Flying Burger & Seafood franchise while relieving the restaurant of any additional burdens.