UC Merced students in mobile app race to make campus life better
UC Merced students are using technology and innovation to solve problems they experience day-to-day.
As part of the UC Merced Mobile App Challenge, seven student groups totaling 26 undergraduates are in the process of developing an application that would be used on wireless devices and would be the solution to a problem.
The one-of-its-kind competition in the country will not only solve a problem, it will give students the skills and real-life experience they need to enter the work force. It even has the potential to lead to new companies, UC Merced officials said.
"We are competing in a global environment," said Rani Yadav-Ranjan, a member of the UC Merced Board of Trustees and one of the creators of the competition. "We are buzzing with talent and quality of students, (and) it's only our responsibility to turn them into a global work force."
Stanford University is the only other college campus that fields a similar challenge, but at the graduate level, said Yadav-Ranjan, chief executive officer of Gray Cloud Technology.
The student groups are creating applications to help solve problems dealing with life as a student, health and wellness, and education, said Brian O'Bruba, director of the Career Services Center at UC Merced and another creator of the competition. "Several of them are really looking at life as a student and what kind of problems they have," O'Bruba said.
Seena Zandipour, a UC Merced senior majoring in management, is taking part in the challenge. He said his team is looking into how students register for classes and how they can try to simplify the process and make it more streamlined. He said they're not far enough into the competition to know what kind of applications the other teams are developing, but they'll ultimately help change the campus in a positive way. "Our application will change the way students sign up for classes," he said. If other teams "apply their apps as well as we have, our campus is going to be better because of this competition."
Zandipour, who hopes to get a job at a Web start-up, said he'll be able to transfer the skills he learns from the competition into his career. "This is a learning experience and not just a developing experience," the 21-year-old said.
The competition will expose students to management, leadership, marketing and public speaking, among other skills, Yadav-Ranjan said. It also will give them the opportunity to engage with industry leaders. "We want these kids to be employable from Day One," she said.
The competition also will teach students what it takes to carry an idea to fruition, she added. Judging and voting on the projects will take place in April.
The winning team will receive a $2,500 scholarship. A panel of judges will select the winner.
UC Merced students will be able to vote on the applications based on four categories -- best creativity, best function design, best able to serve an education need and popular choice. The winning team for each category will receive $500.
Officials hope the competition will increase students' opportunities to be employed. "The possibility of launching a business can also be an outcome of this," O'Bruba said.
Which would be a real problem-solver.
Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at (209) 385-2482 or yamaro@mercedsunstar.com.
This story was originally published January 12, 2012 at 12:30 PM with the headline "UC Merced students in mobile app race to make campus life better."