UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ayushi Bisaria, a second-year Penn State student majoring in data sciences in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, was recently selected to participate in HackHarvard.
HackHarvard is a 36-hour hackathon hosted by Harvard University students. Participants from around the world come together to innovate and build projects in collaboration with industry professionals. The event featured workshops and networking with representatives from its sponsors, which included Visa, Infosys, Capital One, Aramco, Voltage Park and Rebu Systems.
Bisaria learned about HackHarvard through Major League Hacking, an organization that supports hackathons at universities across the country. She applied in September and participated in early October. Over the course of the 36-hour event, her team worked on a project for the Human Augmentation Track, sponsored by Infosys.
“We developed MedMinders, a website designed to help children and adults stay consistent with their medications,” she said. “Our project was inspired by a staggering issue: Each year, approximately 125,000 lives are lost in the United States simply because medications aren’t taken as prescribed — a problem we have the power to prevent. MedMinders is intended to help users stay on track with their medications by tracking progress, sending personalized reminders and simplifying setup through Gemini-powered photo scanning.”
At Penn State, Bisaria is part of the Millennium Scholars Program (MSP), which is designed for high-achieving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students. A generous gift to the MSP from Frank Igwé, who earned his doctorate from the College of IST in 2008, provided the financial support Bisaria needed to attend HackHarvard.
“Being a Millennium Scholar has been a core part of my college experience,” she said. “The program focuses on developing future leaders in STEM, providing not only valuable opportunities — such as attending conferences — but also, most importantly, a supportive and inspiring community of scholars and friends.”
She also is an undergraduate research assistant in the College of Engineering’s Precision Therapeutics and Bioresponsive Materials Laboratory. There, her work is focused on analyzing data sets and developing machine learning models to create methods that accelerate research within the lab.
Bisaria plans to participate in more hackathons in the future.
“HackHarvard was the first hackathon I’ve ever attended, and I’m very excited to participate in more in the future, including HackPSU at Penn State,” she said.