UM-Flint Computer Science students demonstrate apps at Ann Arbor celebration

The University of Michigan celebrated the finale of its bicentennial celebration with the Third Century Expo—a public fair with a focus technology, innovation, and what’s to come in the university’s next 100 years.

UM-Flint’s Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) student group, and their faculty advisor Mark Allison, PhD, assistant professor of computer science, attended and demonstrated some of their student-created digital and web applications to the crowd.

The UM-Flint students were especially proud to feature the MyWater-Flint app, which allows users to access reported lead levels in Flint neighborhoods, connect with resources, and track updates on service-line replacement. Their work accounted for a good portion of the offerings at the event’s tech/app bar inside the “Creating and Inventing” tent.

Their second app, noted Allison, was also a big hit. Still unnamed, the app helps pinpoint a user’s location indoors. “You may have noticed your phone’s GPS is useless inside buildings,” explained Allison. “This graduate research project addresses this problem. When completed, we envision students being able to navigate indoors as floormaps automatically pop up onscreen as they enter buildings and move from floor to floor.

“Users also will be able to access  the schedule of their classrooms and professors by  swiping their phone by the respective doors. This concept was a big hit in Ann Arbor as students thought it would be helpful on their large campus.

“I am still amazed that our students rise so quickly when challenged to solve the unsolved problems,” Allison concluded.

For more information on the Department of Computer Science, Engineering, and Physics at UM-Flint, and the engaged learning opportunities it offers students, visit umflint.edu/CSEP.