UMSI Student Project Exposition will showcase novel solutions to big issues

At Expo ’24, students from the University of Michigan School of Information will showcase information in action, with projects that don’t shy away from intractable problems. 

Held annually, the UMSI Student Project Exposition represents the culmination of projects completed by students through capstone and client-based courses, community-based programs and independent endeavors. The event will take place on Thursday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Michigan League. 

“Exposition is both a celebratory and reflective event for students who have worked hard on real-world information projects,” says Angie Zill, student engagement program manager at UMSI. “I'm excited to see what innovative and novel solutions students have come up with this year, and how those solutions can and will benefit the communities they're meant to serve.”

145 projects will be on display at this year’s Exposition, capturing an impressive range of topics — from demystifying methods for election prediction, to improving access to clean water among the homeless community in Ann Arbor. 

All members of the UMSI, U-M and broader community are invited to attend Exposition, including industry partners and community organizations that may be interested in hosting a student project in the future.  

“It's fun to walk around and see a data-focused project on rainwater collection, a user experience design project that improves a wellness app, and a project about a niche library collection, for instance, all at the same event,” Zill says. 

A panel of UMSI alumni and industry experts will serve as judges, representing leading organizations including Zillow, Adobe, Trinity Health and the U-M Water Center. Top projects will earn awards in thematic and course-specific categories, with funding provided by the estate of Gerald P. Miller (AMLS ’86, PhD ’95) and the UMSI Miller Scholars Fund. 

New this year: an award that will celebrate projects related to water conservation and access, in alignment with UMSI’s theme year. 

Preview some of the Expo '24 projects below, and register to attend.

Where's the Water? Clean Water Access for the Homeless Community

“‘Where’s the Water’ is a web-based tool designed to improve water access for the homeless community. The tool’s design was informed through interviews with the homeless community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It maps nearby clean water sources like drinking fountains, public restrooms and showers. The tool also includes filtering functionality and features crowd-sourcing, allowing users to add new sources on the map.”

—Alexandra Balmaceda and Nina Chen (Master of Science in Information)

Move United: Transforming Wheelchair Football Through Scoresheet Digitization

“Move United supports hundreds of athletes with disabilities annually. Our goal is rooted in creating more awareness of wheelchair football athletes' accomplishments. With the need to easily share large amounts of player and game data, our team created a tablet app to digitize pen and paper score sheets and record game results. The app aims to streamline data entry for volunteers, ensuring accurate and accessible information for players and teams nationwide.”

—Grace Garmo, Mia Inakage, Kushal Sanjeev and Jacob Weiskopf (Bachelor of Science in Information)

Washtenaw County Black History Resource Guide

“In partnership with the Bentley Historical Library, we have developed a resource guide for Black history collections located throughout Washtenaw County. This resource guide will function as part of the Black Washtenaw County Collaboratory project, and the final product will become available on their website in the near future. The goal is to consolidate the work of BWCC in one place, allowing major collections across the county to become accessible to all through an easily-navigable resource, available both physically and digitally.”

—Delaney Jorgensen and Jack Schmitt (Master of Science in Information)

America’s Next Top Model: Demystifying Two Methods for Election Prediction

“If knowledge is power, then when it comes to election predictions, the public is in the dark … Pundits expound on which candidate will win, but how are these predictions made? We test two methods of election prediction — a classical statistical approach and a machine learning method — and make them understandable to a general audience through a public website that allows them to compare the models’ predictions with actual outcomes.”

—Haley Johnson, Phillip Menchaca, Rohit Maramraju and Bella Karduck (Master of Science in Information)

Drinking Water Quality at Michigan Public Schools: A Mixed Methods Inquiry

“This project investigates the processes and resources through which Michigan public schools conduct water quality testing. The goal is to identify the challenges that Michigan public schools encounter when collecting data for water quality testing and when sharing this information with various stakeholders, including water control authorities, students, parents and staff.”

—Meghan Quigley, Austin Book, Pedro Pazmino and Qian Dong (Master of Science in Information)

LEARN MORE

View past winners of Exposition and read related stories here.