Previous Winners

Winning teams from past ESJ competitions! Learn more about ESJ 2024 here!

ESJ 2024 Winners

Cat Byte Team holding up their award!

First Place

Cat Byte || Catpanion

Team Members: Bazil Alvare (Computer Engineer), David Frias (Computer engineer)

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ankita Mohapatra

Catpanion aims to provide mental health assistance for low-income and minoritized children during critical ages of mental development by offering a cost-effective portable device designed in collaboration with mental health professionals, which employ meditation and mindfulness techniques to strengthen mental well-being.

Team Care Team holding up their award!

Second Place

Team Care || CAaRE (Caretaker Assistance and Resources Engine)

Team Members: Jonathan Escobedo (Computer Science), George Ruiz (Computer Science) and Mason Cotterill (Computer Science)

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Mira Kim, Dr. Jaya Dofe

CAaRE, short for Caretakers Assistance and Resource Engine, is an innovative application tailored to simplify and personalize the caretaker's experience by consolidating medication management, appointment scheduling, alarms, planners, and connections with therapists and a supportive forum into one seamless platform.

Defending Hearts and Harmony Team holding up their award!

Third Place

Defending Hearts and Harmony (H₂A)|| Wlk

Team Members: Hafsa Farooqui (Civil Engineer), Hiba Mughal (Computer Science), Dahlia Sukaik (Computer Science), Ayah Halabi (Applied Mathematics)

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Sudarshan Kurwadkar

To enhance women’s safety on campus, we developed Wlk: a multifunctional app, for women by women, where users can book one of our trained, equipped female employees to walk them to and from parts of campus during the later hours of the evening.

Transfer Assist holding up their award!

Best Poster

Transfer Assist|| Consolidated Research Assistance For Transfer Students

Team Members: Jatin (Computer Engineer), Dylan (Computer Engineer)

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Ankita Mohapatra


ESJ 2023 Winners

Bag/Get Team holding up their award!

First Place

Open-Source Pantry Solutions || Bag/Get

Team Members: Rohan Kunchala (Computer Science), Ashley Rus (Computer Science), Cesar Rojas Rojas (Computer Engineering), Alan Cortez (Computer Science)

Faculty Mentor:Dr. Kanika Sood

Bag/Get will be a free, open-source alternative to paid food pantry management systems. It aims to benefit food equity and accessibility for disadvantaged groups by challenging the existing oligopoly and introducing additional key features. The application will feature an extensive inventory management system with custom or template storage categories to improve productivity for understaffed pantries. The Wish List system allows coordinators to set up flexible donation goals manually or via custom item capacity parameters. Each pantry will possess a Homepage, featuring contact information, accessibility tags, and a calendar module for appointment scheduling. The Pantry Finder page will enable users to discover Homepages and apply filters, including item availability, food needs, and language preferences. Users can Follow a Homepage, populating their Community Feed with announcements, opportunities, and donation requests. Overall, Bag/Get streamlines pantry management and promotes social equity by providing free, accessible food pantry services to those in need.

Team Unicorn holding up their award!

Second Place

Team Unicorn || TranscendCare

Team Members: Felix Murray (Computer Science), Kirsten Ochoa (Computer Science), Emily Crowl (Computer Science), Oscar Cisneros (Computer Science), Daniel Truong (Computer Science)

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Jin Lee, Dr. Paul Inventado

Transgender individuals are subject to unique health disparities which afflict both physiological and psychological harm. As the visibility of the transgender community has increased in the public consciousness, so too has the demand increased for gender-affirming healthcare products and services. Despite this need, transgender individuals continue to report a lack of accessible transgender medical resources. TranscendCare directly addresses the issue of transgender accessibility to healthcare services by enabling questioning and selfidentifying transgender individuals to directly take control of their gender-affirming healthcare experience. This is achieved through the utilization of an integrated PDA device, myEgg, which centralizes transgender medical resources and patient information such as affirming-care provider directories and patient treatment plans. Informed by the real-world experiences of stakeholders in the transgender community, myEgg also serves as a personal companion tool for transgender individuals to connect with their local gender non-conforming community in a safe, moderated environment. The combination of tangible healthcare resources with a community-based approach to individual wellness defines myEgg as a novel solution to transgender healthcare diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Access Squad Team holding up their award!

Third Place

Access Squad || OpenDoors

Team Members: Katherine Chen (Computer Science), Stephanie Pocci (Computer Science), Alejandro Ramos (Computer Science), Nolan Delligatta (Computer Science), Ceasar Gutierrez (Computer Science)

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Jin Lee, Dr. Paul Inventado

More than 86.3 million Americans are disabled (CDC 2022). Even with the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, approximately 30% of American businesses and public spaces remain non-accommodating to those with disabilities (IAMV 2020). Additionally, our research survey of 11 local disabled folks indicated in their interviews that they all experienced difficulty navigating public spaces independently. OpenDoors aims to create a nationwide disabled-led review site for ADA compliance of local businesses. By crowdsourcing reviews from disabled individuals, we will create a thorough ADA access guide for the disabled. OpenDoors also accommodates both visible and invisible disabilities with its reviews. OpenDoors' reviews will also ensure businesses are held accountable for being accessible for our entire disabled community, as is mandated by law. OpenDoors aims to empower disabled voices, encourage public spaces and businesses to improve accessibility, and foster a more inclusive society.