Casey Montz

In this time of uncertainty, Fruitful helps people find crucial food for their families and allows them to do so around their busy schedules. We put food pantry selection and availability at their fingertips, so they can plan healthier, complete meals. Not only does our food package reservation system help families plan their meals, but it also allows food pantries prepare inventory and staffing to efficiently distribute their wares.

During our process we figured that we wanted to focus on Adults that need to provide specific food options for their family during their busy lives. How might we find a way to give families choices when it comes to receiving food from food pantries?

Based on our research we learned that this needs to be family focused and wanting to feed families healthy options and to fight the stigma of food pantries. We created something that can feel like everyone uses this application. We wanted everything to be easy to navigate through for adults that are busy with their everyday life. Users are able to save food pantries so that the future reservations can be easier to set up.

We developed an application for users to see what is on the shelves at food banks and food pantries right at their fingertips. On the app, they can see what food pantries are near their location, which then they can select and reserve a time to come in and grab what they need to continue their every day lives. Users can look what is near them to find food for themselves and their family.

Equity badges are physical beacons that signal a professor’s ability to support the needs of underrepresented students in their classrooms. They are also representations of an ally-ship to marginalized and vulnerable groups on campus.

What if there was an easier way for students to find professors that can support and connect them to the resources they need?

"From our research, we found that there are plenty of resources on campus for undocumented students. A big problem is that a lot of new students don’t know that these resources are available to them. Many undocumented students are afraid to seek out help because they don’t want to reveal their status to others. We also learned that many teachers on campus are unfamiliar with undocumented student issues or circumstances. Students explained that educators and teachers appeared unfamiliar with the state of being undocumented."

We want to empower students to identify and choose the professors and faculty that have been supportive and understanding of their unique situations. They have the power to nominate professors for these badges.Through the MyCoach app, students are able to nominate their professors they deem to be allies for an equity badge. After 5 nominations, the professor will receive an email to sign up to the MyCoach app to become an ally Equity Badge. As a further incentive, a complimentary media kit gift set that includes an enamel pin, sew on patch, stickers, and zoom background will be shipped to the professor so that they can wear and show that they are an ally.

A home-scale projector equipped with a camera, controller and virtual games that will be used as a life-size immersive social platform to facilitate interactions between people around the world.

How might we ease social isolation in a way that emulates real-life social gatherings?

We found that it is hard to to communicate to others that are not with you when FaceTiming or on zoom-calls. They felt that only seeing someones head and shoulders doesn't make it feel like we are together. We also found that people do not just want to talk and see each other, they want to play games, dance, and even meet new people.

We came up with a device that will project on any wall to make the screen view larger, therefore people can be life size and make it feel more interactive with others. We attached a camera so the other users can see you as well. There is a remote that can detach from the device so you can change settings, meet new people, and also play fun interactive games.