2026 UMSI Student Project Exposition award winners announced

Driven not just by technical know-how but by a commitment to social good, nearly 500 students from the University of Michigan School of Information presented at the UMSI Student Project Exposition on April 20. Their projects addressed challenges faced by their campus community, nonprofit and cultural organizations, K–12 schools, companies across industries, hospitals, libraries and archives. 

Hosted annually, Expo is one of the most meaningful days of the academic year. Students who have engaged with real clients and communities through their courses, programs and independent projects get to share the stories of those projects with the public. 

Their posters, presented in teams or individually, capture the problems they identified, the research they conducted and the cutting-edge solutions they built through user experience design and research, data analysis and visualization, information curation, computational methods and prototyping. 

Each year, top projects earn awards. Previous award recipients have gone on to launch startups and evolve their projects into fully implemented solutions and products.

A panel of UMSI alumni and industry experts served as this year’s judges, representing leading companies and organizations including Audible, Zoom, the Library of Congress, Washtenaw County, CitiGroup, Netflix, Apple and Adobe. 

They selected 18 projects as 2026 award recipients in undergraduate, graduate and thematic categories. The winning teams and individuals were honored on April 20 at a public award ceremony. 

Final project awards ($2,500 for overall winner; $500 for pathway winners) 

Bachelor of Science in Information Capstone 

All BSI students complete a final project with an external client during their capstone courses. Through these projects, students apply theories and methods taught at UMSI, execute a clear plan, and provide feasible and valuable recommendations to the client organization. 

Overall winner: Bridging the Data Divide: Redesigning the U-M Surveys of Consumers Experience
Nadia Malik, Shalin Zarboulas, Gloria Yu, Hazel Jiang
SI 407/487 User Experience Capstone

Project description: “We analyzed usability friction within the U-M Surveys of Consumers dual-site system. Through mixed-methods research, the team identified critical gaps in navigation and information hierarchy. The resulting redesign established a search-first architecture and unified interface to improve data findability and professional trust.”

Information Analysis winner: NaNDA Neighborhood Data Dashboard: Democratizing Access to Neighborhood-Level Data
Zannah Baker, Jonah Botkin, Kaiping Lu, Shreya Ravipati, Karla Vega 
SI 485/495 Information Analytics Capstone

Project description: “This project developed an interactive dashboard to make the National Neighborhood Data Archive more accessible to students, researchers and laypeople. The tool provided an intuitive interface for exploring neighborhood-level data, lowering technical barriers and promoting the use of open data in research and coursework.”

User Experience Design winner: Seed Social Network: Designing the Dual Experience of the Seed Library
Avery Schiff, Jocelyn Chiu, Jessica Li, Anthony Shephard
SI 407/487 User Experience Capstone

Project description: “This project evaluated and redesigned the physical and digital experience of the University of Michigan Seed Library’s new machines. The team conducted user research to understand interactions between the machines and website, and delivered design recommendations to create a cohesive journey for the campus community.”

Residential Master’s Programs Final Projects

This category includes the culminating projects from all UMSI master's degree programs: the Master of Science in Information, Master of Applied Data Science and Master of Health Informatics. These final projects demonstrate students' mastery of core theories, methods and practices required to succeed in their respective information professions. 

Overall winner: Color IRL: Because Guessing Your Colors Is So Last Season
Robbie Collis, Ishraq Rahman, Lena Choi 
SI 699: Big Data Analytics Mastery Course
Project description: “Shopping should make you feel confident, not confused. Most people don't know which colors flatter them, leaving them frustrated or avoiding shopping entirely. Color IRL identifies your color season, scans products for compatibility, and connects you to a community of people and pros who help you look and feel your best.”

Big Data Analytics winner: Job Market Sentiment Analysis
Sruthi Chatrathi and Maryam Romio 
SI 699: Big Data Analytics Mastery Course

Project description: “This project examined whether labor market indicators reflect public perception of the job market. Reddit posts from three job communities were analyzed using natural language processing to track sentiment from 2019 to 2025, revealing increased negative sentiment coinciding with major economic disruptions.”

Libraries, Archives and Knowledge Environments in Society winner: From Clippings File to Dataset: Data Cleanup for UVA Library
Diana Baxter and Theresa L. Azemar 
SI 699: LAKES Mastery Course

Project description: “In 2024, the University of Virginia Library led a crowdsourced effort to index the UVA History Clippings File, producing a 22K-row dataset. Theresa and Diana cleaned and standardized the dataset to make it accessible to users, produced a data dictionary and provided recommendations for future indexing projects.”

User-Centered Agile Development winner: Cultural and Educational Interactive Experience for Polish Festival Visitors
Siraaj Kudtarkar, Boran Yang, Jonte Taffe, Samantha Pratt, Xiwen Cao 
SI 699: User-Centered Agile Development Mastery Course

Project description: “Developed for the Muskegon Polish Festival, this project expands awareness of Polish heritage and lowers barriers to cultural learning. The team created an interactive tablet app and quiz that guide discovery, provide historical context, and extend engagement beyond the festival.”

UX Research and Design winner: Beacon - Accessible AV Onboarding for Blind & Low-vision Riders on Campus of Future
Dhruvi Jagani, Aasritha Narayan, Gennifer Hom, Swetha Konduru, Zhile Wu 
SI 699: User Experience Research and Design Mastery Course

Project description: “Beacon is an accessibility-first onboarding system for blind and low-vision riders using autonomous vehicles on campus. It combines vehicle and app-based audio, wearable haptics and spatial guidance to help riders find the right vehicle, board safely and ride with confidence.”

Master’s Thesis winner: Algorithmic and Gender-Specific Challenges in the Indonesian Ride-Hailing Industry
Annisa Yudiani 
SI 698: Master's Thesis Option Program

Project description: “Gig platforms limit workers’ autonomy through their algorithms. Women ride-hailing drivers face additional safety risks and discrimination in this male-dominated industry. Through interviews with 16 Indonesian women drivers, this study explores their coping strategies and proposes recommendations to advance gender equity.”

Master of Applied Data Science winner: Optimization of Urban Photovoltaic Installation
Stephanie Maciejewski, Ruchi Patil, Erin Mettler
SIADS 699: Master of Applied Data Science Capstone

Project description: “This project evaluated how rooftop photovoltaic panels could meet urban energy needs, addressing demand for cost-effective, scalable power. It identified optimal rooftops, estimated cost savings and compared deployment timelines with traditional grid expansion.”

Thematic awards ($1,500 for first prize; $500 for second prize) 

Access, Belonging and Inclusion

This award recognizes projects focused on broadening access and reducing obstacles to information and resources. Projects in this category demonstrate inclusive work that enables fair treatment and full participation of all people — whether within UMSI, U-M, surrounding communities or society at large. This category supports UMSI’s mission to create and share knowledge that empowers people to use information and technology to build a better world.

First prize: Boil and Bubble
Shriya Gurkha, Aditi Jhaveri, Stacy Ying 
Independent Project

Project description: “Boil and Bubble was an augmented reality game developed in collaboration with C.S. Mott Children's Hospital to reduce pediatric procedural anxiety by reframing clinical olfactory cues into playful magical ingredients, thus improving patient throughput in the hospital.”

Second prize: Barkada: Filipino American Community Archive
Lance Negrut, Phuc Dinh, Brianna Nguyen, Sudnya Atre 
SI 688: Immersive Applied Projects in the Public Sector/ Alternative Spring Break

Project description: “Leveraging ethnographic research and audience insights, the team designed a digital archive for the Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts Pintig website that honored the organization’s history and reflected Filipino American community values.”

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

This award category is for projects that develop, organize and/or run a new business or creative initiative or approach. Consideration was given to students or teams that embraced the opportunity to create value through innovative solutions, were collaborative, and demonstrated success in uncertainty.

First prize: Strata
Jingle Chen 
SI 559: Introduction to AR/VR Application Design and SI 511.155: Intro to Product Management

Project description: “Designing extended reality experiences today requires technical expertise, expensive hardware and developer support, putting it out of reach for most designers. Strata is a web-based XR prototyping tool that lets designers build, iterate and share spatial experiences as easily as they do in Figma.”

Second prize: LevelUp Living: Preparing Young Adults to Live Independently
Molly Yang, Samantha Pratt 
SI 548: Principles of Software Design

Project description: “LevelUp Living was designed to teach young adults and teenagers how to respond to household problems and emergencies via interactive simulations in a mobile educational game. This was created to transition young adults into the world of living independently.”

U-M Theme: Democracy and Civic Empowerment

This category recognizes projects focused on the participation, rights and obligations of people in democratic societies, including local and global initiatives. This includes projects that promote civic empowerment, enhance government transparency, foster informed public discourse or address challenges related to democratic processes, community mobilization and engaged citizenship. 

First prize: Immigration Framing Across Cable News Networks
Carolyn Cullen, Meghan Levitt 
SI 699: Big Data Analytics

Project description: “This project investigated how immigration coverage differed across major cable news networks over time. Using chyron text from Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, it analyzed sentiment, recurring topics and dehumanizing language to better understand changing media narratives around immigration.”

Second prize: Improving NaNDA Discoverability: Removing Barriers from a Research Gem
Danae Jarrett, Sarah Dababneh, Lucas Rosendall 

SI 699: Libraries, Archives and Knowledge Environments in Society Mastery Course

Project description: “Through a lens of findability and accessibility, this project laid the groundwork for transforming the National Neighborhood Data Archive from an underutilized repository into a discoverable research resource. Metadata schema enhancements were made to connect neighborhood-level data with researchers, policymakers and users.”

U-M Theme: Life-Changing Education

This category recognizes projects that explore and envision the future of education, focusing on how learning experiences can be transformative and life changing. Projects may focus on topics such as learning flexibility, skill development and division, global talent pools, productivity, innovation, well-being, automation, remote work or new models of leadership and management. This category specifically aligns with and contributes to the broader U-M Look to Michigan Campaign effort to define the next generation of education.

First prize (tie): Mobile App for MSU Libraries
Lauren Beck, Wenxi Wang, Emily Williams, Lia Du 
SI 487/497: User Experience Capstone

Project description: “This project was initiated after the Michigan State University Libraries team observed student challenges accessing the web application from mobile devices. The student team conducted user experience research and designed a mobile application, enabling students to use library features conveniently from their smartphones.”

First prize (tie): Teachers' Lounge: A Supportive Platform for Teachers
Ilana Mermelstein, Ciani Foy, Catherine Lilly, Nithya Duggaraju 
SI 699: User Experience Research and Design

Project description: “Early career teacher attrition represents a well-documented challenge in K–12 education. Teachers' Lounge offers teachers a supportive, collaborative and approachable online community, along with opportunities for mentorship. Widespread adoption among teachers can increase feelings of support and improve retention.”

Funding for awards was provided by the UMSI Annual Fund, the UMSI Organizational Culture and Community team, and the U-M Life Changing Education team.

LEARN MORE

View past winners of Exposition  

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