UChicago TechTeam Fall 2020 Showcase
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It’s safe to say that 2020 is not a year we’ll all be looking back fondly on. However, despite all the personal and professional challenges, we wanted to highlight the ways in which TechTeam members stepped up for the greater Chicago community. From building apps that facilitate online learning to visualizing problems of scarcity, the pandemic did not deter TeachTeam’s commitment to civic engagement. As we move into a new year, we thought it is more important than ever to celebrate small wins such as the projects below!
For further inquiries, please contact: uchicagotechteam@gmail.com!
Application Development: Cook County Board
Team 👦🏽👩🏼
- Project Leaders: Helena Thomas, Vince LaGrassa
- Project Members: Abbey Pouba and Bryan Lee
Our Client 💼
- The Cook County Board of Commissioners is the governing board and legislative body of the county. It is comprised of 17 Commissioners, each serving a four-year term and elected from single-member districts.
- Each district represents approximately 300,000 residents.
- The Board’s Project Rainbow: producing daily educational content for children who can’t attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our work 💻
- Developed a mobile app in React to help parents and children access these materials as soon as they come out and on-demand
- Home Page: landing page that directs parents and children to the relevant materials
- Base Page: basic layout for content display
- Youtube API: create an interface between the app and Youtube, displaying and playing videos in React
Next steps for Winter Quarter 2020⏩
- Experiment with design elements & coordinate design with Base Page group
- Match page colors to Project Rainbow/Cook County Board colors
- Add Project Rainbow logo once it’s completed
- Make buttons larger & more readable
- Enable sorting videos by date and video title
Demo 👇
Resource Aggregation: Chicago Tool Library
Team 👦🏽👩🏼
- Project Leaders: Dylan Jones, Eugene Meng
- Project Members: Meena Rakasi, Charmaine Runes, Frederick Zhu, Adam Rivkin, Elsa Athiley, Cole Bryant, Pratham Gandhi, Dylan Jones
Our Client 💼
- The Chicago Tool Library is a tool bank and community maker space that provides Chicagoans with access to tools and resources to learn, share, and create.
Our work 💻
- TechTeam redesigned and updated the Library’s Resource Index page to help visitors find tool-related resources around the city
- Worked with the existing tool library to create a database for all the tool-related businesses and charities in the Chicago area
- Developed easy-to-use search and map features that allow users to locate tool resources that are close to them
- Access the Github Repo
Demo 👇
Client Feedback 💯
Data Visualization: Love Fridge Chicago — Connecting Surplus with Insecurity
Team 👦🏽👩🏼
- Project Leaders: Palash Goiporia and Brett Graves
Our Client 💼
- Love Fridge Chicago is a mutual aid network that places community-run fridges around the city to support those struggling with food insecurity.
Our work 💻
- Collaborated with Love Fridge team to analyze food scarcity and waste around Chicago
- Helped the organization with data collection, choosing the best technologies, and graphically condensing information
- Continuing to develop a compelling, interactive visualization that will be embedded in the organization’s website
Demo 👇
Feedback 💯
“(We) really appreciate the work you guys have done. We learned a lot!”
University of Chicago (UC) Open Data
Team 👦🏽👩🏼
- Project Leaders: Deblina Mukherjee
- Project Members: Vann Strasen, Anton
Our work 💻
- Fall Quarter 2020 was focused on building the infrastructure
- Built an easy to use React front end
- Collaborated with Harvard and Stanford Open Data on designing the portal
Demo 👇
