Southern Miss Computing Students Win Design Awards

HATTIESBURG, Miss., June 26, 2025

southern Miss students display tech prowess

Students solve real-world problems.

• Student teams designed solutions for vehicle diagnostics, athlete recruitment, and secure dialogue.
• The innovative Design for computing Competition (IDCC) fosters innovation and practical application of classroom learning.
• Projects addressed challenges in transportation, healthcare, and information technology.
• Winning teams received monetary awards through the NASA-Mississippi Space Grant Consortium.

At the University of Southern Mississippi, students are tackling real-world problems, and the Innovative Design for Computing Competition (IDCC) showcased their tech-driven solutions.

Tackling Real-world Challenges

Recent graduates from the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering at The University of Southern Mississippi brought their enterprising ideas to life at the IDCC. This year’s prototypes addressed real-world challenges, showcasing the students’ readiness to innovate and providing practical solutions across various industries.

Reader question:-What other types of competitions could help students apply their classroom learning to real-world challenges? Share your thoughts in the comments.

“The IDCC serves as an opportunity for students to apply classroom learning to real-world challenges,” said Dr. Amer dawoud, associate professor in the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering and coordinator of the annual IDCC. He added, “Their designs showcased a blend of technical expertise, resilience, creativity and the readiness of Southern Miss students to innovate.”

Did you know? The NASA-Mississippi Space Grant Consortium funded the monetary awards for the winning teams.

Winning Projects

Following their presentations, four teams were recognized for their innovative projects:

First Place: Zachary Bennett and Vinay Panchal

Project: OBDII over LoRa: Long Range Networking for Multi-Vehicle Monitoring and Diagnostics

What was the challenge? Most vehicles since 1996 have an OBDII system for monitoring vehicle health. The need for a physical connection limits remote diagnostics, especially for large commercial fleets.

What was their solution? The team integrated a LoRa (Long Range) radio, transmitting data up to 10 kilometers directly or 90 kilometers via a Meshtastic network, allowing wireless data transfer without physical connections.

Why does it matter? This innovation enables real-time remote diagnostics and monitoring for vehicle fleets, supporting proactive maintenance, improving efficiency, and reducing downtime.

Second Place: Nicole Fagan, Kristen Gilmer, Amanda Hammans, aayush Gautam, Hritik Ghising

Did you know?-LoRa, used in the winning vehicle diagnostics project, stands for Long Range and is a low-power, wide-area network protocol ideal for IoT devices.

Project: Knowledge Vault: A Knowledge Retention and Collaboration Platform for Legacy Systems

What was the challenge? Many industries still rely on mainframe systems, but organizations risk losing institutional knowledge as seasoned programmers retire.

What was their solution? the team developed Knowledge Vault, a secure, on-premises web platform for capturing and sharing mainframe knowledge. It includes a documentation repository, searchable issue resolution database, and team collaboration tools.

why does it matter? Knowledge Vault helps preserve institutional knowledge, reduce downtime, train new developers, and ensure long-term continuity for essential infrastructure.

Third Place: Philip VU and Anthony Rito

Project: Data-Driven Scouting Dashboard for NCAA Athlete Recruitment

What was the challenge? University athletic programs face inefficient scouting due to fragmented data and subjective evaluations, limiting their ability to identify top talent from underrepresented schools.

What was their solution? Thay created a platform that converts PDF stat sheets into structured datasets, visualized through a Plotly Dash dashboard. Predictive analytics tools help identify emerging talent.

Why does it matter? By automating data breakdown and reducing bias, the platform accelerates scouting, improves recruitment accuracy, and uncovers promising athletes.

Fourth Place: Ethan Cook, Hagen Bracey, bayleigh Fizer, Tigest Boutwell, Alexander Booth, ainsley Booksh, Bradley Bellipanni and Dylan Duncan

Project: Developing a Real-Time Communication Tool for Modern Workspaces: EnterChat

What was the challenge? Organizations need secure tools for real-time collaboration without compromising data privacy.

What was their solution? EnterChat is a real-time communication platform with encrypted text channels, file sharing, video calls, and integrated scheduling. It ensures secure interaction using Laravel,React,and Node.js WebSockets.

Why does it matter? EnterChat enhances internal collaboration while minimizing data breach risks, delivering a reliable solution for secure workplace communication.

Quick fact: The projects tackled challenges across diverse industries,including transportation,healthcare,and IT.

Beyond teh Competition: The Broader Impact of Student Innovation

The IDCC highlights how students at The University of Southern Mississippi are leveraging technology to solve pressing issues across multiple sectors. Their projects aren’t just academic exercises; they represent potential solutions to real-world problems facing businesses and organizations. These tech solutions, like the ones developed for vehicle fleets and athlete recruitment, are designed to enhance efficiency and offer cost-effective alternatives to conventional processes.

The competition format allows students to integrate their classroom learning into practical applications, but what happens to these innovative ideas after the awards ceremony? Let’s take a closer look at the potential impact and the steps required to turn these projects into thriving businesses or initiatives.

From Concept to Implementation: Making a Real-World Impact

Transforming a student project into a viable product or service requires several critical steps, from refining the initial concept to securing funding and establishing market readiness. While the university provides a launchpad for these ideas, future success often hinges on the students’ ability to move beyond the IDCC and turn their projects into fully realized solutions.

• Refine and Validate: Conduct further research to understand the market need thoroughly and refine the initial project based on user feedback and market analysis.

• Develop a Prototype: Build a minimum viable product (MVP) to test the core functionality and gather crucial user data.

• Seek Funding: Explore funding options,including grants,seed funding,or angel investors,to support further development and scaling.

• Build a Team: Assemble a skilled team with diverse expertise in development, marketing, and sales.

• Protect Intellectual Property: Consider the importance of filing for patents or trademarks to protect the project’s unique features.

• Marketing and Sales: Develop a comprehensive go-to-market (GTM) strategy, including plans for marketing, sales, and customer support

The success of these projects also relies on the university’s ongoing support. Providing resources for mentorship, entrepreneurship training, and access to funding opportunities can greatly assist students in this transition.

Potential Real-World Applications and Benefits

Let’s explore the benefits each project could offer if brought to market.

The winning project, “OBDII over LoRa,” has the potential to revolutionize how vehicle fleets manage diagnostic data,reducing downtime and operational costs. Imagine being able to monitor, diagnose, and make repairs on vehicles remotely, enhancing the efficiency of essential services.

The “Knowledge Vault” developed by the second-place team, could become a valuable tool to preserve institutional memory within companies, safeguarding the critical knowledge needed to maintain and update complex legacy systems.

The “Data-Driven Scouting Dashboard,” created by the third-place team, stands to transform athletic recruitment by providing a more efficient and less biased approach to sourcing talent.

With real-time, secure communications at its core, the “EnterChat” platform, by the fourth-place team, offers a solution for companies needing secure, reliable, and effective channels for internal interaction.

These projects showcase an encouraging trend: using technology to provide cost effective solutions that can be rapidly implemented in diverse industries. The creativity and technical prowess of the students demonstrate that emerging technology can be used to streamline processes, enhance data collection, and reduce operational costs. These student projects underscore the value of innovation,not only for generating economic growth but for providing solutions to existing problems.

Myth vs.Fact: IT Innovation

There are a lot of assumptions in the tech industry. Here’s a quick breakdown of common thought vs. reality.

Myth	Fact
“New technology is always better.”	New technology has to be tested. Sometimes, a smart adaptation of existing tech is far better.
“Tech projects always need huge budgets.”	Innovative solutions can be developed with modest budgets, especially with open-source tools and student talent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some common questions about the IDCC and its impact.

How does the IDCC benefit the students?

The IDCC provides a platform for students to apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world challenges, enhancing their skills and preparing them for future careers.

What kind of industries benefit from these projects?

The projects address problems in a variety of industries including transportation, healthcare, and IT, demonstrating the wide-ranging impact of student innovation.

Are there any opportunities for the public to learn more or help?

The university is always open to providing information about its projects.Contact the IDCC organizers to get details on learning more.

What are the plans for the projects after the competition?

Many of the projects are intended to be further developed and potentially commercialized following incubation through university programs that offer support and resources.