Aurora collegians engineer software to aid local homeless shelter
Aurora University computer-science students have devised a system to improve operations of Hesed House homeless shelter in Aurora.
Hesed Closet was among seven software engineering projects for commercial and nonprofit applications that students unveiled in December during presentations culminating fall-semester research projects.
Greg Oij, computer science/engineering department lecturer, hosted the program in Tapper Auditorium at Hill Welcome Center. He said, "These projects portray a great deal of research and development that go well beyond what is taught in the classroom."
Detailing Hesed Closet were Kristina Krokosz, Aurora; Kathleen Sweeney, Chicago; Eric Wagner, Johnsburg; and Dylan Kuth, Stickney.
The team described its web application as a user-friendly clothing-checkout system designed to help shelter volunteers carryout the facility's mission.
Hesed Closet, the team said, categorizes clothing items by season and follows the regulations of how many items a recipient can receive per week.
Users have the ability to add clothing item categories, add/delete recipients and volunteers and register new recipients/volunteers.
Other software-engineering projects profiled were:
• "PlayDates R Us," an interactive social media platform that enables parents to schedule play dates with children of other parents;
• "Fox Valley Real Estate Signs," a website for a local company to install and remove for-sale signs;
• "TagNDash," a simulation game to train professional nurses for triaging children and adults;
• "Illinois Horse Braiding Online," a scheduling website for custom horse braiding services;
• "Cat Adoption Toy," a Whack-A-Mole-inspired device for the Kane County Animal Control cat adoption room;
• "Renters & Ratings," a platform to enable renters and tenants to rate each other.
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