Higher Ed Student Spotlight Projects

Join us at the Higher Ed Student Spotlight, presented by Softwriters. Students from across Pennsylvania and beyond will showcase their innovative projects that address some of today’s most pressing challenges. From AI and automation to sustainability and community impact, these student-led ideas highlight the creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving power of the next generation.

Explore the featured projects below and see how students are driving innovation and shaping a better future.

Atvida

: Atvida is an AI-driven misinformation detection and truth-verification startup. It combines computer vision, NLP, and audio analysis to fact-check content across social media in real time. The company’s browser extension and WhatsApp integration allow users to verify posts and media instantly. Through continuous prototyping, user testing, and scalable AI design, Atvida empowers global users to combat misinformation and restore trust in digital information ecosystems.

Autonomous Aerial Delivery and Emergency Response System

: Behrend Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is developing a fully autonomous drone capable of precise payload delivery using an AI-driven vision system. Designed for real-world missions, the project combines computer vision, flight control, and mechanical innovation to advance aerial automation and inspire the next generation of engineers and entrepreneurs.

CalendarGenie

: CalendarGenie is your personal secretary. It organizes your day, keeps you on track effortlessly, and adapts to your schedule so you never miss a beat.

Canopy

: Canopy merges real-time forest sounds with satellite change detection to flag illegal logging and wildlife threats early. Students are releasing an open audio dataset, edge models for low-power sensors, a Dockerized pipeline, and easy tools (QGIS plug-in + web dashboard), plus training resources—so any team can deploy conservation monitoring fast.

Chips and Water: The Hidden Environmental Costs Behind America’s Semiconductor Boom

: U.S. semiconductor policy is reshaping domestic manufacturing but poses rising environmental and water challenges. This study analyzes fab water recycling, PFAS regulation, and permitting impacts across TSMC Arizona and Micron New York. It evaluates cost tradeoffs, regulatory gaps, and policy durability under changing federal priorities, proposing measurable standards for water reuse, PFAS control, and sustainable fab siting to align industrial growth with environmental responsibility.

Clutch

: Clutch is a student discount app that uses AI to personalize offers, suggest context-aware deals, and provide businesses with real-time analytics. It simplifies how students access and use student discounts while helping companies connect directly with verified student customers, creating a smarter and more efficient marketplace for both sides.

Colorama: A Pop-Up Pinball Experience

: We have created a pop-up pinball machine that is designed to be multigenerational and educational. Our iteration, Colorama, is an educative experience that plays off of the novelty of the photobooth as a core mechanic. Step up, take a picture of yourself or with your friends, start playing pinball, and watch as your photo is brought into full color using RGB values directly resulting from player inputs. At the end, the colored in photo will be printed out and given to the player as a keepsake.

Community Connectors

: Serving Washington Elementary in Mt. Lebanon in partnership with Arizona State University and Remake Learning to strengthen relationships between ESL students, their families, and the school community. Collaborating with district leaders to develop multilingual resources. Designing and coordinating a district-wide International Family Night to celebrate cultural diversity and foster community engagement.

Computational Fluid Dynamics – Machine Learning (CFD-ML)-Based Airflow Exchange Model for Large Opening Underground Mine

: This project develops a CFD-ML-based ventilation model integrating computational fluid dynamics and machine learning to optimize airflow in large opening underground mines. Using field data and a least-squares support vector regression model, it predicts the volumetric air exchange index (VAEI) with high accuracy (R²>0.91). A genetic algorithm further optimizes airflow parameters, improving ventilation efficiency by 48.16% and reducing energy consumption.

From Pen to Platform: Supporting Creative Writing in the Digital Classroom

: This project aims to increase literacy in K-12 education by exciting students about creative writing by making a creative writing platform. One part will be for teachers to engage their students and implement different online resources into their class, such as recorded lessons. The other portion will be geared towards students, including an online journal to record ideas that they can decorate the icon for and a platform to share their work with other students.

K-12 AI Literacy

: The project is a thorough guide to informing people about AI in school or educational settings.

Mind, Body, Leisure: Theory and Practice

: Mind, Body, Leisure: Theory and Practice by Bridget Joyce draws on philosophical ideas of leisure and recreation from thinkers like Josef Pieper and Annette Holba to explore the deeper meaning of rest, reflection, and intentional living. Inspired by their work, Bridget developed a comprehensive dance-based program designed to promote movement as a form of leisure—encouraging participants to

Mixed Reality Board Game Template for Meta Quest 3

: This project explores how Mixed Reality can enhance user engagement in traditional games. Using Unity and the Meta Quest 3, a physical board game was adapted into an immersive mixed reality experience. The template enables interactive storytelling and gameplay that bridge physical and digital spaces, supporting educational and narrative-driven applications.

MobilU

: Today, wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) information is scattered across agencies. Booking a ride requires hours of research and multiple phone calls, often forcing riders to repeat their access needs. MobilU is a multimodal transportation platform that collects options across transit providers. It uses an AI agent to contact providers by phone or email to retrieve fare estimates, availability, and coverage zones. This streamlines access for riders with disabilities.

Oderum

: Oderum is a fragrance discovery platform with a database of 300+ perfumes that helps you find your perfect scent. It features AI-powered recommendations where you describe what you're looking for in plain English, advanced filtering by notes and seasons, side-by-side comparisons, and a daily fragrance tracker that gives you yearly summaries of your wearing habits. You can write reviews, create lists of your favorites, and explore what other fragrance enthusiasts are loving in the community.

Silkworm

: Silkworm is a Java application that reads textbooks in the form of PDF files and uses various algorithms to create a list of the estimated most important terms. These terms are then stored within a database where they can be interacted with in various ways via a GUI. It is intended to be developed into an all-purpose digital studying tool.

Trading Bot Outline

: We have came up with how to create and manage a trading bot. We have the outline ready that shows exactly how to use the trading bot that we envision.

Visual Structories: Systems Thinking for Applied Learning of AI and Automation in Healthcare

: Evolving technologies pose overwhelming and abstract complexities for students to grasp. Drawing is an effective learning tool for understanding, integrating, and applying concepts, yet most students are not taught this strategy. My systems thinking diagrams invite students to consider the interactions between technology and society. Combining learning principles with visual stories that relay textbook knowledge to applications, I help students retain and utilize the information over time.