ICS News Archive

VenusHacks 2022 Wraps Up Spring Quarter With Female Empowerment, Award-Winning Hacks

Best Overall Hack: Glenn Quest Bot
Glenn Quest Bot is a Discord bot that gives users entertaining activities to do throughout the day. Users can ping the bot to receive small and doable tasks, like resting their eyes or doing jumping jacks, and also keep track of the activities they’ve completed. The intention behind the bot is to bring positivity into your friends’ lives with these tasks.

Glenn Quest Bot was created by:

• Victoria Winn – junior computer game science major, UCI
• Glenn Song – senior computer science major, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

Best Overall Runner Up and Female Empowerment Hack (WICS): Zotty Potty
Zotty Potty’s project is as memorable as its name. The hack maps out restrooms on campus with the goal of identifying ones that are accessible, gender-inclusive and have menstrual products. Users can rate each restroom based on criteria such as cleanliness and safety, which helps create a comprehensive database that informs people of what to expect from each restroom.

Zotty Potty was created by:

• Alisa Lu – freshman computer science major, UCI
• Nathan Ng – sophomore computer science major, UCI
• Catherine Zheng – freshman computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Rose Zhang – freshman computer science major, UCI

Best Use of PeterPortal API (ICSSC): Commutr Planner
Making your quarterly class schedule is challenging, but it’s even more stressful when you commute because of all the variables that come into play. Commutr Planner aims to make this experience less difficult by helping commuters create a schedule that minimizes both days on campus and time in between classes. Simply enter the classes you want to take, and the project’s algorithm will come up with a number of schedules for you to choose from.

Commutr Planner was created by:

• Maithy Le – freshman computer science major, UCI
• Audrey Nguyen – freshman computer science major, UCI
• Teresa Hempen – freshman computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Mia Schroeder – freshman computer science major, UCI

Best AI Hack (AI@UCI): The Joke-Inator
Want to know how funny your jokes are? The Joke-Inator can tell you that with artificial intelligence and machine learning. The team behind the project collected over 400 data points to train their ML model to rank jokes. Once you tell the computer a joke, The Joke-Inator will parse the joke and let you what is and isn’t funny.

The Joke-Inator was created by:

• Jessica Duong – junior computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Lillian Ling – junior computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Sarah Nassery – junior computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Aditi Pai – junior computer science and engineering major, UCI

Best UI/UX (Design at UCI) and New Ways to Car Shop (COX Automotive): CarReels
CarReels is a mobile app that makes car shopping online straightforward and convenient. Both dealerships and individuals can list their vehicles on CarReels, where buyers can then look at 3D views of the car. The app also allows users to filter for the make and model, among other features, of their ideal car.

CarReels was created by:

• Avent Chiu – sophomore computer science major, UCI
• Phuoc Le – sophomore computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Kang Rui Yu – sophomore computer science major, UCI

Best Assembly AI API Hack (Assembly AI): Astrochecker
Astrochecker combines the Assembly AI Speech-to-Text API with the TextGears Grammar API to improve audio transcription. The project first sends an audio file to Assembly AI to be transcribed. Users can then send the transcription to the grammar layer, where it will correct any grammatical errors.

Astrochecker was created by: 

• Sahil Somani – sophomore computer science major, UCI
• David Xiu – sophomore computer science major, UCI
• Kory Zhang – sophomore computer science major, UCI

Best Use of Google Cloud (Google Cloud): UMI: A Bot for You and Me
UMI: A Bot for You and Me is a Discord bot that gives users a daily boost of serotonin. Users can subscribe to receive a number of messages from the bot, such as quotes, fun videos, animal facts and more. UMI’s intention is to promote a positive lifestyle, improve mental health and create meaningful connections.

UMI was created by:

• Ye Min Aung – sophomore computer science major, UCI
• Eric Liang – sophomore data science major, UCI
• Kelton Lindsey – sophomore computer science and engineering major, UCI
• Annie Tsoi – sophomore computer science major, UCI

Visit the VenusHacks Devpost to view all project submissions. 

— Karen Phan