Spelman College Students Win 2010 AT&T Big Mobile on Campus Challenge

Two students from Spelman College recently won The 2010 AT&T Big Mobile on Campus Challenge (SM).  Jonecia Keel and Jazmine Miller, both of whom are dual degree majors in computer science and computer engineering, developed an iPhone App called HBCU Buddy.

I was so excited to learn about this application that I immediately grabbed my iPhone and visited Apple's App Store to download the app.  Jonecia and Jazmine have become producers and I LOVE it.  Hopefully, other HBCU's who do not have their students engaged in such competitions or at least include opportunities to develop mobile application for platforms such as the iPhone and the iPad as part of their computer science curriculum.

After downloading the app it was great to see the splash page which credits Miss Keel and Miss Miller and the INVENTORS and DEVELOPERS of the application.  These two young women have joined the ranks of Garrett Morgan and Lewis Latimer as inventors and producers of products using the technology of the time.  This helps our young people to identify and believe that we belong in this space.

The application provides quite a bit of functionality for its first release.  HBCU Buddy includes an extensive list of HBCU's that you can view alphabetically.  You can also list the institutions by ranking, region, and state.  Once you select the HBCU of your choice, you are provided with a wealth of information regarding that school.

For example, I selected Fisk University, and I immediately learned that its overall HBCU rank is 4.  I also learned that the average ACT score is 17-21 and that instate tuition is $17,000.  There is also section that lists all of the majors offered.  For high school students preparing for their college careers, having this information at their fingertips could prove to be quite useful.

There is also contact information on each HBCU to include maps and directions as well as the ability to navigate to the schools website from within HBCU buddy.  I have only given a glimpse of what HBCU Buddy can do.

It  also includes a social media component and I understand our young inventors are hard at work to enhance the virtual features,  and hopefully we can expect a version optimized for the iPad in the near future as well as versions for BlackBerry and Android devices.

At this time HBCU Buddy is a free app that you can download from Apple's App Store.  You can learn more about HBCU Buddy here.

Congratulations Jonecia and Jazmine on a job well done!