KENNESAW, Ga. | May 2, 2016

Kennesaw State students showed off their technological prowess with their student-built computer games, mobile applications and tech innovation, during the Computing Showcase at the Marietta Campus on April 26.

A first-time event for the College of Computing and Software Engineering, the showcase drew more than 150 undergraduate and graduate students, who presented their high-tech project developments and research to industry professionals.

“It’s wonderful to see how our students came up with all of these projects and demos. They are delighted to engage in discussions about their projects,” said E.K. Park, dean of the College. “I believe everyone was impressed by the quality of our students’ work.”

Industry professionals served as judges for the nearly 75 projects and posters presented during the showcase. Park also noted that the College uses industry input regarding the tools and applications most needed from graduates.

Keynote speaker Flavio Villanustre, vice president of technology for LexisNexis’ HPCC Systems, was impressed by the compilation, recognizing the high quality of the students’ projects. 

“The students want to educate others and they have a genuine excitement for sharing their projects,” Villanustre said.  “LexisNexis values that good talent.”

General Motors’ senior development manager for Global Cadillac Brand Analytics Brett Earnest found many students were “on the right track” and showed talent in areas that are extremely relevant to the world of analytics and his work at GM.

Other large corporate leaders such as Georgia-Pacific’s information technology staff also came out to judge the posters and projects. 

“I was very impressed with the Kennesaw State University College of Computing and Software Engineering C-Day event,” said Bruce Skillin, mobile strategist for the digital business and innovation support team at Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP.  “Students presented some amazing ideas and countless hours of hard work. It was humbling to be among such great talent on the verge of starting their technology careers.”

Students were eager to share information about their projects, in hopes of being noticed by the more than 25 industry professionals who served as judges. Several industry sponsors also provided recruiting tables. 

Ideas ranged from virtual reality games to cloud computing and web applications, but each stemmed from a variety of creative sources.

Ryan Murray’s idea for a mobile game, “ My Mom’s Road Rage,” came from his mom  – not because of her driving habits but because of a conversation they had about others’ bad driving skills and habits. For Murray’s game, users earn points for hitting as many roadside dangers as possible while eluding police.

Graduate student Jeff Watson’s idea for a “Software Robotic Process Automation” stemmed from work he was doing with his employer, ADP. He expanded his knowledge of automation to improve data quality in the healthcare information technology field.

Students were honored for their efforts, with prizes for the top three winners in each category. The 2016 winners include:

Games
1st place:  Tactics & Tarrasque, Jonathan Davis
2nd place:  My Mom’s Road Rage – Ryan Murray
3rd place: HeartAttack – Lawson Lamb & Oluwakayode Akingbade

Capstone/Senior Projects
1st place:  UScheduler – Andres Montoya, Edward Mwangi, Peter Southwick, Matthew Wohlbach, Jacob Diaz and Matt Bush
2nd place:  iLock – Omar Damaj, Michael Gwyn, Daniellle Martin, Sam Bryant and Jason Turner
3rd place: Applications Themer – Caleb Hardin and Kevin Ball

Undergraduate Research and High School Internships
1st place:  Empowering Requirements Elicitations Interviews with Vocal and Biofeedback Analysis – Casey Brock and Rahat Shahwar
2nd place: Preventing Insider Exfiltration Attacks with YouTube Videos with DCT Transforms – Christopher Francis-Christie
3rd place: Defensive Programming Methodology – Noah Cole, Wheeler High School internship

Graduate Research and Thesis
1st place:  Detection of Stage One of Diabetic Retinopathy Based on CNN Models – Pablo Fernando Ordonez and Carlos Andres Cepeda
2nd place: Internet of Things-Based Smart Classroom Environment – Amir Atabekov
3rd place:  Information-Theoretic Anomaly Detection Framework for Web Application – Robert Bronte