Posted by anderc8 on Thursday, December 21, 2017 in Mobile Cloud Computing, News.

Written by Jess Banasiak, Chemical Engineering Major, Vanderbilt University Class of 2018

Tackling Big Questions with Mobile Cloud Computing is a project-based University Course that allows teams comprised of engineering and non-engineering students to design technology solutions that can be implemented across campus and throughout Nashville. The course complemented my Innovation Garage Fellowship with Accenture during the 2016-17 school year. The Innovation Garage is one of the Wond’ry’s pillar programs that similarly challenges interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students to develop innovative solutions for corporate sponsors.

My team – Luke Price, Pat McGowan and I – took a vague problem statement from Accenture about antiquated technology in the oil and gas industry and crafted a targeted solution for the most expensive post-production cost – water hauling. By interviewing representatives from oil and gas companies, we defined the solution as a platform to address inefficient routing and fraudulent transaction processes. In the University Course, we applied these interviews to develop boards of user stories and to articulate what the platform would look like, screen-by-screen (for both mobile and web platforms). Computer science majors Sam Hurd and Geoff Pettet prototyped the platform, which we showcased to the Accenture Subject Matter Experts that we were working with through the Innovation Garage program.

Pleased with the solution we proposed after two semesters immersed in the Innovation Garage and having completed the University Course, Accenture gave Pat, Luke and I the opportunity to further develop the platform in Houston and Austin during the summer of 2017. During this internship, we built a business case to substantiate the need for this platform in the energy space. We worked directly with Accenture’s clients and UI/UX designers at Accenture’s design consultancy firm, Fjord Austin, to update and customize our platform to meet the specific needs of these clients. Throughout the summer, we applied the agile methodologies learned during Tackling Big Questions with Mobile Cloud Computing to iterate on both our platform and our pitch deck each time that we received feedback from clients. I particularly enjoyed the process of constantly asking questions of ourselves and our users, such that we could simplify our solution to meet its essential function (e.g. what KPIs are most important and what is the best way to visual data? How will the user directly interact with an object and what are the potential outcomes of their interactions?).

Since the end of our internship, Accenture has demonstrated continued interest in our project and its entrepreneurial nature. Although we won’t be working on the same platform, Pat, Luke and I plan to return to Accenture for full-time employment after we graduate in Spring 2018. Accenture’s interest exhibits the real-world applicability of the University Course and the Innovation Garage program – it exhibits how our academic lessons and projects can extend beyond the classroom, particularly with the great faculty support that we received from the course instructors, Doug Schmidt and Jules White, and the Wond’ry’s program director, Deanna Meador.

I encourage anyone to enroll in Tackling Big Questions with Mobile Cloud Computing or other University Courses and to take advantage of the exciting resources and programs offered by the Wond’ry.