Grand Canyon University software development main and music producer Alex Vergara couldn’t find a music-streaming service that hit the perfect note, so he created BeatsTree.
Like with Spotify or BeatStars, users can upload their songs, but unlike other music-streaming services — and what makes BeatsTree so different — is that customers also can download those songs files, which are stored in the cloud.
“I’m a producer and make my own beats. … I wanted to put my name out there, ” Vergara said of the particular seed of inspiration behind BeatsTree. It’s a project this individual started working on over the summer, even before his capstone class started in September.
“I’m not using any API’s (application programming interfaces, which allow programs to communicate with each other). There’s nothing prebuilt. Everything’s built from scratch . all associated with it is built by hand by me, ” he or she said.
The learning curve was huge for him in focusing on this project, he stated. Not only did he refine their skills inside programming language C#, but he dove headfirst into cloud computing program Microsoft Azure over the past few months.
“It was HUNDREDS of pages of documentation I had to filter through, ” he mentioned of searching through Azure to find what he needed to build BeatsTree.
Vergara’s music-streaming service was one of approximately 60 projects on display Thursday in Antelope Gymnasium as part of the end-of-semester Technology Capstone Showcase, organized in partnership with Strategic Employer Initiatives and Internships. It’s when seniors present their capstones, which are meant to display all they’ve learned in their academic career at GCU.
The event, featuring the particular College of Science, Engineering and Technologies ’s software development, computer science, information technology and Research plus Design Program students, welcomed industry professionals and advisory board members who got to see firsthand the tech savvy of the particular University’s students.
We used to be in a hallway, then expanded into the classroom, and now it’s gotten so big that we moved it into the gym. It’s a good problem to have.
Technology Project Manager Katherine Urrutia on the growth of the Technology Capstone Showcase
The showcase has grown exponentially since it made its debut in 2016.
“We used to be in a hallway, then expanded in to a classroom, and now it’s gotten so big that people moved it directly into the gym. It’s a good problem to get, ” said Katherine Urrutia , Technology Project Manager.
Visitors could view everything from VR Arcade (developers: James Ridley plus Dylan Olthoff ), which re-creates the throwback ’80s arcade experience through virtual reality; to HikingTracker (developer: Connor Rolstad ), which usually includes the where-you’ve-hiked map and gives hikers a way to track data, such as elevation gain; to the Collection Tracker (developer: Nate Kelley ), which gives Pokémon enthusiasts a way to monitor their card collection.
Visitors also can scan in a QR code at every project site to give their feedback.
While the capstone presentations usually feature seniors, software advancement freshman Joseph Abraham was invited in order to participate as one of several representatives of the particular University’s Research and Design Program. Abraham is part of the Computational Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning & Robotics Lab, working under the mentorship of Dr. Jevon Jackson .
Abraham’s project, Fake News Detector for Twitter, uses machine learning to ferret out false information. Abraham is looking through news about Elon Musk associated with SpaceX, Tesla and now, Tweets, fame to teach the program what statements are objectively true or even false. He aims to go through 20, 000 pieces of data while the program is within its “learning phase. ”
“Three months ago, I didn’t know how in order to code, ” Abraham stated of his project, which he will continue to develop as this individual moves via his years at GCU. “I’m loving it. ”
Computer technology students Katelyn Hochstetler plus Evan Kliewer , who worked with Orbis Education, created a digital reality simulation using Ms HoloLens technology. It enables nursing students to practice their assessment of newborns and perform other tasks, such as holding a virtual baby. The particular simulation will be meant to be an intermediary teaching tool, sharpening nursing students’ abilities between the particular classroom and the time they start to interact along with real infants.
“It just gives them more experience, ” Kliewer said.
Information technology students Luke Levene , Brooks Birkinbine , Jerry Connelly plus Victor Perez shared the details of their own nutrition web app, Truthful Nutrition.
What makes this different from other nourishment apps, Levene said, is “it shows you the broader range of your data. ” So instead of showing users a week’s worth of exactly what they’ve eaten, it goes back further to track their diet habits. The app also can recommend foods based on your eating history. It knows if you’re lacking the recommended dairy for the particular day, for example. Users may also set personal goals around the app, which usually tells you if you’ve gone over or under your personal calorie goal.
College student developers Melanie Spence and Elijah Olmos developed the software that will uses Web3. 0 blockchain technologies to keep track of attendance. Blockchain records transactions structured in blocks in a peer-to-peer network. The software would be something professors could use in course to keep track associated with attendance or even that organizations around campus could use so they find out who attended their occasion.
Olmos, that demonstrated the technology by scanning the card onto a raspberry pi computer, said, “What I learned the most about was blockchain, ” a newer technologies he plus Spence desired to add to their academic arsenal.
Software development older Charles Osiris developed MediHealth, a phone app that reminds customers to get their medicine. He obtained the idea for the task because their mom is usually on medication and tends to miss taking a pill or two.
“My biggest challenge was in order to launch this on the particular mobile phone. We had to update the API, ” which after that caused problems that he or she scrambled to fix, Osiris mentioned.
Leini Santos , product developer for Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, was one of about 50 industry experts and advisory board users who went to the event.
“We’re potentially hiring for a new developer inside January, ” she said.
She’s hoping they’ll find a student developer through GCU who will hit that perfect note.
“Thinking of all the building blocks we’ve done, this is definitely the fruition, ” stated Assistant Dean of Technologies Brandy Harris , who else looked out into Antelope Gymnasium and saw the sea of tables and college students dressed in their presentation best. “We’ve just experienced tremendous support from our industry partners, which have come back and helped us refine (what we do) even more.
“It’s been wonderful. ”
GCU senior writer Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached in [email protected] or even at 602-639-7901.
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