UTO Student Project Showcase Highlights Learner Innovation
Student talent is always a highlight of the UTO experience. This spring semester, six exceptional interns, across four different projects, demonstrated the innovative potential of ASU learners and workers. In a Student Project Showcase presented to UTO leaders and peers, Heather Cuthbert, Mishal Shah, Srekeesh K C, Katherine Hannan, Sesha Chandra Adusumilli and Pawan Vijayanagar shared the results of their creativity.
Improving the User Experience
Cuthbert and Hannan, as technical communicators, found different approaches to the user experience of ASU’s website development tool, Webspark. Cuthbert mapped out a “User Journey” through Webspark, pairing certain steps in the process with emotions or “personas” for the average user, which illuminated what could be improved.
Hannan found the educational experience of discovering Webspark muddied, and proposed a number of changes to streamline the tutorials and general feel of accompanying information. Both Cuthbert and Hannan hit on a crucial tenet of ASU’s approach to technology: it should be accessible to everyone.
Going Mobile @ ASU
Shah and K C worked on the ASU Mobile App during their time at UTO. Tasked with helping to maintain and enhance the University’s presence on smart devices, they came up with a backend solution to inform worthwhile changes in the future.
Together, Shah and K C revamped an analytics dashboard that illuminates the number of users, top segments, time spent, app usage by degree and more. This kind of data is crucial to identifying new features that would benefit the ASU community. And Shah and K C went further with their Mobile App work; they also envisioned the integration of social media into the app, bolstering Sun Devil Rewards at the same time.
On-Campus Traveling Tech
ASU has long been an innovator in the field of the Internet of Things, the term used to refer to the network of connected devices that improve our daily life. The work of Adusumilli and Vijayanagar is a perfect example. Each took a crack at two aspects of campus mobility: the staff golf carts and smart poles.
Creating a dashboard that shows the availability and locations of the carts was the initial premise, but finding a reliable solution was more difficult...until a solar powered transmitter was fully designed and prototyped. And the “blue light” smart poles on campus, outfitted with sensors to supplement research and to allow authorities to respond quickly to incidents, would also play a part in creating a “mesh network” for cart location.
Looking Forward
“Working at UTO contained the excitement and learning curve of a startup along with the guidance and resources of a large organization like ASU,” Adusumilli said. “It was a great opportunity to try new ideas with the support of a full team.”
Digital Transformation Manager Zohair Zaidi said he was impressed and honored to work with his student workers, which included Adusumilli, Vijayanagar, Shah and K C. “They have been intimately involved with some of our most critical projects and have made significant contributions towards both the ASU Mobile App and our Smart Campus initiatives that will live far beyond their time here. Their work ethic and passion to make a difference for ASU and for the broader community as well, has been an inspiration for my team and I and a shining example for all future student workers to come.”
The exciting work from these six students is just the start of full, new careers for them, and it’s also a perfect representation of ASU’s culture of innovation. “The student presentations are always a highlight,” said Chris Richardson, Deputy CIO Development, Mobile and Smart Cities.
“It reminds me of our charter as there is such a diverse group, doing exciting and different work, focused on critical initiatives directly impacting UTO and ASU. Many of them use their production releases as their interview portfolio and go on to work at the best names in tech such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft.” UTO is proud of providing opportunities for learners and workers to show their creativity and improve the quality of life for the ASU community.