Info Challenge Projects

2025 Info Challenge Project Descriptions

Ready to take on a challenge? Below, you’ll find an overview of the challenges available in this competition. As you and your teammates form your team, explore the options to find the one that best fits your interests and skills!

Data Analytics

DC WMATA Metro Ridership Analysis – Mindpetal Software Solutions

Mindpetal has been dedicated to providing solutions to technical challenges since being established in 2006. Now, there needs to be a solution towards certain trends that are present within the DC Metro system. Students will conduct an exploratory data analysis on the public DC WMATA Metro average ridership in order to find patterns and outliers, leading to visualizations that will explain the presence of valuable trends.

FOIA Knowledgebase – Amtrak

Amtrak’s Records and Information Management (RIM) Program oversees Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, ensuring timely and accurate responses. However, the current process relies on a single individual’s knowledge to determine the right contacts within Amtrak, creating a single point of failure and inefficiencies. This challenge seeks a searchable, user-friendly FOIA Knowledgebase to streamline the process, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve institutional knowledge retention. The ideal solution should be intuitive, scalable, and secure, enabling RIM staff to quickly locate key personnel responsible for relevant records. By modernizing Amtrak’s FOIA request workflow, this project will enhance efficiency, continuity, and compliance, ensuring faster and more effective responses.

Bus Division Cellular Coverage Study – GL Communications, Inc.

A transit agency operates buses that are equipped with a GPS-based Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system that collects data throughout operation. At the end of operation, data is transferred from the bus to centralized computers via cellular communications. In order to make the data transfer more efficient, the transit agency wants to compare cellular data coverage and performance from three different cellular service providers to one of its bus maintenance facilities. GL Communications has conducted tests and collected measurements of the coverage and data performance of the three cellular service providers. Students will provide a comprehensive data analysis and data visualizations of the cellular data coverage and performance within the bus maintenance facility to help inform next steps.

Design

Records Retention Schedule – Amtrak

Amtrak’s Records and Information Management (RIM) Program maintains a Records Retention Schedule, a crucial tool for tracking record-keeping policies. However, the current schedule exists as a 75-page PDF, making it difficult to search, update, and manage. This challenge seeks a better-designed, user-friendly solution that allows for easy input, navigation, and retrieval of retention policies. The ideal redesign should improve usability, accessibility, and efficiency, ensuring Amtrak employees can quickly find and apply record retention guidelines. By transforming this static document into an interactive, intuitive system, this project will modernize Amtrak’s records management process and enhance compliance.

AI Recognition Tool Design – Mindpetal Software Solutions

Through being dedicated to solving technical challenges with different federal leaders, Mindpetal is now focused on creating creative and secure digital data and AI solutions for people to express themselves freely and creatively, along with receiving new information without fear of it being fake news generated by AI. As an AI-focused company, Mindpetal wants to build tools that are knowledgeable and literate when related to AI generated content. Students will design an interface for an AI-generated content checker that will allow users to upload media and check if it is AI generated.

Enhancing Digital Accessibility for Seniors at Shady Grove – UMD INFO Shady Grove

The Information Science program at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, along with inclusive and accessible technology for all diverse populations, including older adults. These older adults at Shady Grove are having trouble with navigating their way through these complex interfaces. Shady Grove wants to uphold their commitment of fostering an inclusive, accessible, and diverse community by ensuring digital accessibility to each age group. Students will analyze digital barriers and design a solution to help inform future campus initiatives, improve access to digital tools, and foster a more inclusive academic community for lifelong learners.

AI and Machine Learning

EY Urban Heat Island Data – EY

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect refers to the phenomenon that cities experience higher temperatures compared to rural areas due to heat-absorbing surfaces. This effect can cause health, social, and energy related issues in children, the elderly, those who work outdoors and low-income populations. EY is a global professional services organization that is passionate about bettering the working world and its society. Now the goal is to help these urban areas that can be affected by this phenomenon. Students will create a machine learning model in order to predict locations that will severely be impacted by the UHI effect and have multiple opportunities to check and iterate their models for increased accuracy.

Exploring AI in Customer Parking Service – University of Maryland, Department of Transportation Services (UMD DOTS)

With over more than 50 parking areas around UMD, parking is regularly enforced on campus with over 15 different violation types. Along with 78 permission types that vary by time of day, community members, and special events taking place on campus. The Department of Transportation Services (DOTS) wants to explore opportunities that provide proof of concept for using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the parking environment on campus. Students will create an algorithm that will indicate if customers are allowed to park in specific locations around campus based on various inputs.

Identifying Capstone Officials – United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has required that all Federal Agencies use the Capstone approach to manage their email records, USDA being one. The Capstone approach is known as preserving email records based on the position or role of the email account owner and requires that the emails associated with the defined positions are considered permanent. Those considered Capstone Officials are those on higher organizational charts, helping them to be put into the system easier. However, with approximately 650 positions and 14 agencies, the Capstone officials at USDA are having difficulties with being identified within the system by Human Resources (HR). Students will create an algorithm that will automatically identify and report Capstone Official data for Records Management compliance.

Past Projects

Projects and Outcomes for Info Challenge 2024

Info Challenge 2024 Grand Prize Winners

Congratulations to our 2024 Grand Prize winners! Aayush Sharma, US Naval Academy; Devin Stoltenberg, US Naval Academy; Reese Dalzell, US Naval Academy; Robert Vedra, US Naval Academy. Challenge: U.S. Department of Agriculture: FoodData Central (Data Analytics Level 2). See below for more challenge winners.

U.S Department of Agriculture: FoodData Central (Data Analytics Level 2)

USDA FDC – USDA

USDA’s FoodData Central (FDC) is an integrated data system that provides expanded nutrient and food component data in one location. This database provides a snapshot in time of nutrients and other components found in a wide variety of foods and food products. For this project, students will analyze historical data and see how the data has changed and remained the same. This insight will provide a better understanding of which nutrients or components should be analyzed and which ones remain constant.

Award: Outstanding Data Analytics Project (Tie)
Team IC24058
Andreas Mayr, UMD
Challenge: U.S Department of Agriculture: FoodData Central (Data Analytics Level 2)

Project Participants:

Cody Howard, US Naval Academy
Lainey Feighery, US Naval Academy
Nathan Reczek, US Naval Academy
Talley Applewhite, US Naval Academy
Team IC24024
Link to Project

Cole Regan, US Naval Academy
Hiathan Nguyen, US Naval Academy
Michael Jagdon, US Naval Academy
Team IC24025
Link to Project

Jonathon Cruz, US Naval Academy
Lydia Baumberger, US Naval Academy
Team IC24028
Link to Project

Aaron Song, US Naval Academy
Emma Dear, US Naval Academy
Matthew Jao, US Naval Academy
SeungJae Hong, US Naval Academy
Team IC24029
Link to Project

Cory Daut, US Naval Academy
Daniel Prather, US Naval Academy
Jillian Brodeur, US Naval Academy
Team IC24030
Link to Project

Award: Grand Prize
Aayush Sharma, US Naval Academy
Devin Stoltenberg, US Naval Academy
Reese Dalzell, US Naval Academy
Robert Vedra, US Naval Academy
Team IC24031
Link to Project

Aiden Patel, US Naval Academy
Christopher Kim, US Naval Academy
Myles Evans, US Naval Academy
Team IC24032
Link to Project

Angelina Cheng, US Naval Academy
Harrison Morrow, US Naval Academy
Team IC24036
Link to Project

Aidan Aguilar, US Naval Academy
Ashley Yi, US Naval Academy
Cyrus McLeod, US Naval Academy
Nicholas Munoz, US Naval Academy
Team IC24038
Link to Project

Anthony Cheng, UMD
Eric Huang, UMD
Ethan Chang, UMD
Team IC24046
Link to Project

Khoa Huynh, UMD
Sriket Komali, UMD
Trinity Killip, UMD
Team IC24050
Link to Project

Bridgetta Ulrich, UMD
Sushil Shrestha, UMD
Team IC24055
Link to Project

Award: Outstanding Data Analytics Project
Andreas Mayr, UMD
Team IC24058
Link to Project

Rakshanda Hedawoo, UMD
Yash Khanna, UMD
Team IC24061
Link to Project

UMD Office of Sustainability: Green Terp Program (Data Analytics Level 3)

Green Terp Program – UMD Office of Sustainability

The Green Terp Program is a social marketing effort to promote environmentally responsible choices by all UMD students. From fall 2018 to spring 2023, the program engaged with students through an action checklist, on-going communications, events, and eco-gear to help make sustainable choices easy. Each year all students could participate in the program by pledging to implement at least 10 sustainable behaviors over the year. At the end of the year, students could then certify to indicate if their pledged behaviors were incorporated into their lifestyles. The Office of Sustainability is interested in completing an analysis of this data at certification and registration over the reporting period. The insights developed by student teams as a part of the Info Challenge may help inform future program components and goals.

Award: Outstanding Data Analytics Project (Tie)
Team IC24033
Abigail Lutz, US Naval Academy
Ethan Tolentino, US Naval Academy
Gabriel Abreu, US Naval Academy
Justin Werner, US Naval Academy
UMD Office of Sustainability: Green Terp Program (Data Analytics Level 3)

Project Participants:

Conrad Dzikunu, UMD
Swathi Baskaran, UMD
Vincent Leon, Montgomery College
Team IC24012
Link to Project

Shaashvat Shetty, UMD
Team IC24019
Link to Project

Leon Battle, US Naval Academy
Thomas Kephart, US Naval Academy
Travis Hockin, US Naval Academy
Stephen Jones, US Naval Academy
Team IC24023
Link to Project

Micah Williams, US Naval Academy
Team IC24026
Link to Project

Kimberly Van, US Naval Academy
Megan Leitz, US Naval Academy
Shekinah Jaze, US Naval Academy
Team IC24027
Link to Project

Award: Outstanding Data Analytics Project
Abigail Lutz, US Naval Academy
Ethan Tolentino, US Naval Academy
Gabriel Abreu, US Naval Academy
Justin Werner, US Naval Academy
Team IC24033
Link to Project

Christopher Jones, US Naval Academy
Ivan Thomas, US Naval Academy
Jenna Han, US Naval Academy
Team IC24034
Link to Project

Janet Li, UMD
Lucas Gonzalez-Rey, UMD
Team IC24049
Link to Project

Gabriella Chiericoni, UMD
Hibah Beg, UMD
Team IC24053
Link to Project

Aidan Powers, UMD
Areeba Qureshi, UMD
Dunyasha S M Yattogoda, UMD
James Dawson, UMD
Team IC24056
Link to Project

Maria Lanasa, UMD
Ryan Deppe, UMD
Ryan Kim, UMD
Team IC24057
Link to Project

EY: Open Science Data Challenge - Biodiversity modeling (Data Analytics Level 4)

Better Working World Data Challenge: Biodiversity Study – EY

How do you preserve biodiversity with the click of a button? This challenge will be about frogs. Frogs are an indicator species, which means they are a go-to for scientists wanting to find out more about the environmental health of a particular ecosystem. Species distribution models (SDM) are widely used ecological tools, a cornerstone in many countries worldwide of environmental regulation and conservation. Students will develop SDMs of frogs from satellite imagery and complementary geospatial data. They will build a model that can identify the occurrence of frogs for a single location using a single data source.

Award: Best Team Presentation
John Hampton III, UMD
Kelsey Meis, UMD
Sweta Dantu, UMD
Team IC24008
Challenge: EY: Open Science Data Challenge – Biodiversity modeling (Data Analytics Level 4)

Project Participants:

Abdul Hannan, UMD
Sesha Sai Lakkavajjala, UMD
Sivani Dronamraju, UMD
Team IC24005

Ayan Hassen
Sadaf Davre
Thilak Mohan
Team IC24006

Award: Best Team Presentation
John Hampton III, UMD
Kelsey Meis, UMD
Sweta Dantu, UMD
Team IC24008

Bennett Huffman, US Naval Academy
Olivia Love, US Naval Academy
Rhys Winter, US Naval Academy
Team IC24035

Alexander Grande, US Naval Academy
Daniel Taylor, US Naval Academy
Tanner Kelly, US Naval Academy
Team IC24037

Ke Xu, UMD
Muyan Cheng, UMD
Qiao Qin, UMD
Xueyan Geng, UMD
Team IC24047

Aditi Ganesh Joshi, UMD
Ashish Murlidhar Pagote, UMD
Sanjana Vasudev, UMD
Surbhi Garg, UMD
Team IC24048

Prahar Modi, UMD
Rutvik Patel, UMD
Team IC24064

Lichen Zhang, UMD
Yushan Dong, UMD
Team IC24067

Peeyush Dyavarashetty, UMD
Subha Venkat Milind Manda, UMD
Team IC24070

VerticalApps/Mind Petal: Voting Candidate Matching Tool (Design)

Voting Candidate Matching Tool – VerticalApps/Mind Petal

Similar to how you can take “Buzzfeed quizzes” to determine which Taylor Swift album you are most like, we want to design something similar where people input their political alignment with certain issues and it would match them with a candidate in their voting district that matches them the most. As a data-driven company, we believe giving people facts derived from data will help people make informed decisions. Students will design a tool that prompts a user for their alignment on certain matters.

Project Participants:

Joshlyn Celestine, UMD
Maria Gomez Master, UMD
Victoria Uhl, UMD
Team IC24003
Link to Project

Asabea Agyemang, UMD
Ramith Wijesinghe, UMD
Team IC24015
Link to Project

Abby Wexler, UMD
Eric Blackman, UMD
Esteban Melendez, UMD
Team IC24054
Link to Project

Pranav Vijay, UMD
Team IC24066
Link to Project

FNU Prasshanna S, UMD
Shaunak Mirashi, UMD
Yash Deshmukh, UMD
Team IC24069
Link to Project

Air National Guard: Travel the World, Build Great Things! (Project Management)

Travel the World, Build Great Things! – Air National Guard

The Air National Guard operates a yearly Deployment for Training (DFT) program. This program allows its members to travel and receive real-world training in their respective civil engineering career fields by completing construction projects. At one of the country’s largest and busiest military bases in Ramstein, Germany, the 786th Civil Engineering Squadron needs a warehouse built to store incoming building maintenance materials and supplies. The squadron does not have the manpower to complete this project, but it has allocated $1.2 million to purchase materials and rent construction equipment and tools. Faced with this tall task, students will develop a plan to complete the building in Germany.

Project Participant:

Prithvi Patel, UMD
Wilfredo Flores, Montgomery College
Team IC24017

GreenStar, Inc.: Jewel or Counterfeit? (Project Management)

Jewel or Counterfeit? – GreenStar, Inc.

GreenStar, Inc., a US-based global engineering firm specializing in software and information technology, has just completed a large acquisition of one of its competitors, Bluewave, Ltd. Issues began after the acquisition when GreenStar tried to incorporate Bluewave into the GreenStar ecosystem including culture, methods, processes, and governance. Build a strategic action plan that GreenStar, Inc. executives can follow to aid in protecting their acquisition investment. Include a plan for managing the “Jewel” program to include its scope, financials (cost and profit), change management, quality, and stakeholders.

Award: Outstanding Project Management Project
Team IC24013
Carmen Beleho, UMBC
Olaronke Afolabi, UMD
Ryan Collingham, Montgomery College
Challenge: GreenStar, Inc.: Jewel or Counterfeit? (Project Management)

Link to Project

EY: Login Analysis (Security)

Login Analysis – EY

Controls to mitigate against cybersecurity attacks are an important component of an entity’s overall IT control environment and are especially important in protecting intellectual and physical assets. As such, it is increasingly important for external auditors to be aware of the risks that clients face because of poor or inadequate cybersecurity processes and controls. Students will be performing tests related to simulated authentication logs.

Award: Outstanding Security Project
Team IC24044
Chris Humber, UMBC
Dale Neumeister, UMBC
Leon Tang, UMBC
Oluwatimilehin Olayinka, UMBC
Challenge: EY: Login Analysis (Security

Project Participants:

Chisom Okorie, Montgomery College
Saharath Chaveeruk, Montgomery College
Team IC24002

Dataset Levels

Image of two gears
Level 2: Participants with basic data analysis knowledge. The problem statement is open-ended yet straightforward. The dataset has a standard structure suitable for beginners. Creative and interdisciplinary solutions are welcomed.

Image of three gears
Level 3: Participants with some data analysis background. The problem statement is open-ended about what the final product may look like. The dataset may contain many variables of interest. Analyses from different angles by various techniques are encouraged.

Image of four gears
Level 4: Participants with advanced data analysis skills. The problem statement is open-ended and requires multitudes of analytical perspectives and visualizations. The dataset has a complex structure, numerous variables of interest, and spatial-temporal dimensions.

Projects and Outcomes for Info Challenge 2023

Congratulations to our 2023 Grand Prize winners! Dharini Chandrashekar, UMD and Amanpreet Kaur, UMD. Challenge: CoPAR Website Concept Design – UMD INFO (Design). See below for more challenge winners.

UMD Global Classroom Analysis (category: data analytics, level 1)

The University of Maryland Global Classrooms program allows UMD students to gain international experience in a virtual learning environment. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Global Classrooms courses and participants have increased significantly, and the Office of International Affairs seeks to understand student diversity trends for past semesters. Students will use their creative insights on how variables such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, and residency from past student data can be used to compare diversity trends by semester, academic year, and student status.

Project Participants:

Alanna Hart, Anita Conteh
Mentor: Margaret Kahl
Link to project

Brita Laveck, Ellen Kim, Tartela Tabassum
Mentor: Adam Lee
Link to project

Jaehyun Lee, Daniel Yu, Eojin Kim
Link to project

Majdoleen Mohammedaman, Reem Saleh
Mentor: Prasad Senesi
Link to project

Grant Glasgow, Ben Keenan
Mentor: Mark Magsino
Link to project

Harshitha Ramachandra, Shashank Ramprasad
Mentor: Tatyana Yevgrafova
Link to project

Osinakachi Amaefule, Cecilia Chavez, Jaclyn Tran
Mentor: Jeffrey Zuback
Link to project

Christine Wang, Anthony Avelar
Mentor: Jeffrey Zuback
Link to project

Ramith Wijesinghe, Matthew Chin, Kidus Solomon, Courtney Brandon
Mentor: Maria Bardossy
Link to project

Sehba Wani, Josue Tlapechco, Vienna Nguyen
Link to project

CrisisFACTS Summarization (category: data analytics, level 2)

When crisis responders react to ongoing emergencies, they need to know what new critical developments have occurred in the past several hours. Oftentimes, responders are able to find this information through social media, however, finding the most important information first is crucial. By analyzing different social media platforms and news sources, construct daily summaries of Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Dorian using a digital version of FEMA’s Incident Status Summary form and utilize this data to assess which platforms provide the most useful information for emergency response personnel.

Project Participants:

Ivan Thomas
Mentor: Dan Roche
Link to project

Bennett Huffman, Maurice Salayon
Mentor: Dan Roche
Link to project

Hanna Zakharenko, G Goodwin
Link to project

Sadaf Davre, Tiara Eltrevoog, Sarah Zachariah
Link to project

Washington Fatal Crash Survey (category: data analytics, level 3)

In 2018, Washington State enacted stronger distracted driving laws, and in response, a survey was developed to evaluate residents’ understanding of the new Driving Under the Influence of Electronics Act, which was conducted in one-month time periods over the past four years. We are curious to know how public perceptions of this new act have changed over time, particularly among demographic subgroups. This analysis will be used by the Public Health Seattle-King County (PHSKC) to target specific subgroups for media outreach, materials, and infographics, which students can also contribute to in addition to their analysis.

Project Participants:

Aditya Kiran Aswin Kumar, Rajeevan Madabushi, Sravya Lenka, Srikanth Parvathala
Mentor: Brian Wilkinson
Link to project

Manas M Bhat, Shantanu Parab, Vineet Singh
Mentor: Jeffrey Zuback
Link to project

Gunakshi Sharma, Dhiraj Lahoti, Shweta Salelkar, Sakshi BR Patil
Link to project

Thomas Cho, Jenna Han, Joshua Kang, Daniel Shin
Mentor: Duy Duong-Tran
Link to project

Malcolm Rivers, Ryan Grafman, Christopher Hom
Mentor: Nate Chambers
Link to project

Angelina Cheng, Caroline Irwin, Harrison Morrow
Mentor: Duy Duong-Tran
Link to project

Aedan Ounsamone, Lindsey Beiche
Mentor: Nate Chambers
Link to project

Justin Werner, Alexander Grande
Mentor: Duy Duong-Tran
Link to project

Aiden Patel, Chris Kim, Myles Evans, Ola Kwasniewski
Mentor: Justin Blanco
Link to project

Ashley Yi, Nicholas Munoz
Mentor: Nate Chambers
Link to project

Washington Fatal Crash Files (category: data analytics, level 4) 🏆

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington State has experienced an unprecedented year-over-year increase in traffic fatalities. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) manages traffic safety behavior programs and media outreach for various communities. However, we are curious to know if the people living in these communities are the same people involved in the crashes where occur there. By analyzing datasets of crash data, students can answer questions such as: what proportion of drivers are involved in crashes in communities where they live? Are there specific zip codes where higher-risk drivers tend to be more common than others?

Best Team Presentation
Micah Tracy, US Naval Academy
Rhys Winter, US Naval Academy
Kaosi Unini, US Naval Academy
Ryan Zhang, US Naval Academy
Team IC23044
Challenge: Washington Fatal Crash Files – WTSC (Data Analysis, Level 4)
Mentor: Fiona Knoll

Outstanding Data Analytics Project (Tie)
Gabriel Duran, UMD
Keshav Gupta, UMD
Soham Pawaskar, UMD
Team: IC23048
Challenge: Washington Fatal Crash Files – WTSC (Data Analysis, Level 4)
Mentor: Vikrant Aute

Outstanding Data Analytics Project (Tie)
Anna Lavrentieva, UMD
Iris Yu, UMD
Ethan Taggart, Montgomery College
Christopher Way, UMBC
Team: IC23058
Challenge: Washington Fatal Crash Files – WTSC (Data Analysis, Level 4)
Mentor: Chauncey Robbs

Project Participants:

Jarrar Haider, Akhil Reddy, Eshan Agarwal, Chaitanya Pohnerkar
Mentor: James Li
Link to project

Xirui Han, Johannah Ryan, Tam Thu Doan, Kevin Weiner
Mentor: Kunpeng Zhang
Link to project

Jimmy Nguyen, Anthony Capasso, John Dutan
Mentor: James Li
Link to project

Zizheng Zhang, Xiaoze Liu, Wangxi Pan
Mentor: Vikrant Aute
Link to project

Matthew Purvis, Aidan Aguilar, Olivia Love, Danny Taylor
Mentor: Justin Blanco
Link to project

Caden Chau, Christopher Jones
Mentor: Dan Roche
Link to project

Rhys Winter, Micah Tracy, Ryan Zhang, Kaosi Unini
Mentor: Fiona Knoll
Link to project

Keshav Gupta, Soham Pawaskar, Gabriel Duran
Mentor: Vikrant Aute
Link to project

Kent O’Sullivan, Nicole Schneider
Link to project

Iris Yu, Anna Lavrentieva, Ethan Taggart, Christopher Way
Mentor: Chauncey Robbs
Link to project

Minnesota’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (category: design)

Under HIPAA (the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), every person has a right to access healthcare data about themselves. The State of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS), along with every other state, is developing tools to allow individuals’ to exercise their right to easily access their health data. MN DHS is seeking students’ help to create a simple, yet comprehensive series of screens for future healthcare uses. Students will use their creative abilities and UX/UI design skills to create user-friendly wireframes that make healthcare data accessible and provide easy to understand screens for current and future patients.

Project Participants:

Makda Demleash, Fatma Fadlelmola
Mentor: Miles Calabresi
Link to project

CoPAR Website Concept Design (category: design) 🏆

The Council on the Preservation of Anthropological Records (CoPAR) was an organization founded in the 1990s to promote archiving and discovery of archival materials for cultural materials around the world. Since then, its website has remained the main resource for information about where to find anthropology archives, and how to encourage archiving practices among anthropologists. The current format of the CoPAR website is outdated, counterintuitive, and difficult to search and navigate, and resources are not presented in a visually compelling format. Students are tasked with brainstorming ideas and redesigning the website, improving user-friendliness, and developing visualizations that will facilitate greater access.

Grand Prize
Dharini Chandrashekar, UMD
Amanpreet Kaur, UMD
Team IC23063
Challenge: CoPAR Website Concept Design – UMD INFO (Design)

Project Participants:

Dharini Chandrashekar, Amanpreet Kaur Sareen
Link to project

Candace Sun
Mentor: Brittany Johnson
Link to project

Hannah Milillo
Mentor: Jacob Davidson
Link to project

Pygmalion Tool Maps Design (category: design) 🏆

The Pygmalion tool can be used to create interactive visualizations of the meanings associated with a word, or vice versa of different words associated with similar concepts, to provide researchers, teachers, and learners with an instrument to visually represent the heterogeneous and complex information presented by dictionaries in a more intuitive way. The tool offers both interactive linear visualizations and network visualizations of a word, however, the interactivity and readability of these maps could be improved. Students will brainstorm ideas and design concepts to increase the interactivity of these visualizations and make them more user-friendly, as well as brainstorm ideas for the use of this tool in educational environments.

Outstanding Design Project
Fatema Motiwala, UMD
Pooja Gajera, UMD
Pratya Nellore, UMD
Shaunak Bhanarkar, UMD
Team: IC23025
Challenge: Pygmalion Tool Maps Design – University of Neuchâtel (Design)
Mentor: Dan Forest

Project Participants:

Fatema Motiwala, Pooja Gajera, Pratya Nellore, Shaunak Bhanarkar
Mentor: Dan Forest
Link to project

Vimbainashe Mabvaru, Runyararo Mucheche
Mentor: Dan Forest
Link to project

Cybersecurity Controls: Audit, Automate, and Advise (category: cybersecurity) 🏆

Controls to mitigate against cybersecurity attacks are an important component of an entity’s overall IT control environment. As such, it is increasingly important for external auditors to be aware of the risks that clients face because of poor or inadequate cybersecurity processes and controls. For this challenge, students will play the role of an external auditor for a public company, tasked with evaluating and testing internal controls. More specifically, students will evaluate and test passwords–a crucial component of access controls. Students will evaluate, perform, and document a series of steps as part of reviewing password management as a key Information Technology General Control (ITGC) and have the option to develop a system to automate the process.

Outstanding Cybersecurity Project
Ivan Bajceta, US Naval Academy
Michael Huizenga, US Naval Academy
Strahinja Janjusevic, US Naval Academy
Eric Liu, US Naval Academy
Team: IC23038
Challenge: Cybersecurity Controls: Audit, Automate, and Advise – EY (Cybersecurity)
Mentor: Fiona Knoll

Removing Personal Data (category: cybersecurity)

This dataset, compiled by Yael Grauer, is a list of data brokers with steps for people to get their data removed. Each data broker is labeled if it is high priority, requires a driver’s license for removal, if the user must make their request via snail mail, or if the site charges for removal. There is also a free-text description of the removal process, usually including links. We are looking for ways to allow users to make informed decisions about how to proceed with getting their personal data out of these systems. Prioritizing a list by ease of the process (something challenge participants will have to rank based on multiple factors), urgency, number of steps, etc. would be useful, along with clear steps explaining what to do.

Project Participants:

Sai Divvela, Pranav Bonagiri, Danish Nadar, Itunuoluwa Ayo-Durojaiye
Mentor: Jimmy Alexis
Link to project

Jimmy Garcia, Quinn Carmack
Mentor: Kevin Barbian
Link to project

Min Cheong Kim, Luis Mayorga, Seshasai L
Mentor: Maddie Metcalfe
Link to project

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