UA Innovate

💡What happens when you give the next generation of STEAM leaders 24 hours and a challenge? At UA Innovate, we saw the future of industry being rewritten in real time. UA Innovate is a special kind of magic. This 24-hour Hackathon and Innovation Challenge at The University of Alabama brings together some of the brightest minds in technology to design and build real solutions. There is a beautiful hum that happens when a room is full of focus—the sound of students moving past the how and into the why as ideas take shape across categories like cybersecurity, fintech, social impact, and data analytics. As a Diamond Sponsor, A Little Bit of HOPE was honored to invest in bringing this experience to life and hosting the Cybersecurity Challenge. Watching students navigate complex digital landscapes was a masterclass in curiosity and practical application. Beyond the intensity of the competition itself, the event provided an entire ecosystem of growth. From technical demos and learning classes where students mastered new tools, to industry panels where professionals traded real-world insights, the value was everywhere. When scholarships were awarded and the career fair turned those breakthroughs into internship and career opportunities, the impact became clear. We weren't just witnessing a contest; we were watching the gap between potential and industry access disappear. That creates a momentum that carries students far beyond the competition. An event of this scale is a symphony of moving parts. Our deepest gratitude goes to the student leadership team for creating the stage for this brilliance to unfold. To the visiting schools who joined us at the Capstone: your unique perspectives made the energy even richer. To our fellow industry sponsors and the courageous competitors: thank you for your vision, your late-night breakthroughs, and your grit. We are grateful to be part of your story! #alittlebitofhope #uainnovate #cybersecurity 📷 Images: MKC Photography

Excited to share that my team placed 2nd at UA Innovate Hackathon 2026! Over 30 hours, we built a prototype application for HCA Healthcare that helps hospital operators quickly understand census data, providing at-a-glance occupancy insights, predictive capacity forecasting, configurable alerts, and customizable dashboards for leadership decision-making. A huge thank you to Tara Little, Chase Callahan, Gabrielle Benefield, and Kevin Linkous who worked with us throughout the event, provided guidance, and helped shape the problem with real-world context. It was an incredible opportunity to collaborate directly with industry experts. Also grateful to Mary Kate McConnell and Kate Owens for leading this event, Jeff Lucas, and all other liaisons who made this event possible. And of course, a huge shoutout to my teammates, Helene Renninger, Robert Gill, and Lucas Webster for the creativity, teamwork, and long hours that made this worthwhile! Already looking forward to next years! UA Innovate HCA Healthcare

Hello All! This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel with the FAMU team for the 24 Hour UA Innovate Hackathon sponsored by A Little Bit of HOPE held by the Women In Technology - University of Alabama My team and I competed in the Social Innovation challenge sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. Our project, “A World Without Waste 3.0,” focused on optimizing recycling supply chains. We developed a predictive AI model designed to identify where recyclable materials are likely to accumulate based on socio-economic variables. By leveraging Zerve AI to build a linear regression model, we aimed to pinpoint underperforming regions to help Coca-Cola accelerate its goal of 100% bottle and can recovery by 2035. I am incredibly grateful to the FAMU faculty for the opportunity to represent our university. A special thank you to my teammates for their hard work and to our Coca-Cola sponsors, Madeline Copeland and Emily Calvin , for their invaluable mentorship and insights.

I won 1st place in the UA Innovate Hackathon this weekend with my awesome team: HyoJu Park, Hannah Dillon, and Aaron Sharp !! Competing in the Social Innovation track, we tackled a critical gap in modern brand protection: while companies like The Coca-Cola Company invest billions in global sponsorships (e.g., the FIFA World Cup), rising threats like counterfeits, phishing, and impersonation put both consumers and brand equity at risk ($467 Billion fraud industry). Our solution, CocaCousin, is an AI-powered platform that unifies brand security into one system. It combines real-time social media monitoring, counterfeit detection across e-commerce platforms, and high-severity threat alerts within minutes of occurrence. By shifting from reactive tools to proactive, campaign-aware intelligence, it helps protect consumers while maximizing the ROI of global marketing investments. I am so grateful to UA Innovate, UA Women in Tech, and CMISS UA for organizing such an amazing event, I actually had so much fun in-between the grind! Karaoke + Treasure Hunt + Building Saas platform = perfect way to spend the weekend And special thanks to our judges Emily Calvin and Madeline Copeland for the learning opportunity! View our project here: https://cocacousin.com/

This past weekend I had the opportunity to compete in UA Innovate, The University of Alabama’s annual hackathon, and I’m excited to share that our team placed 2nd in the Cybersecurity category. I had the privilege of working alongside Cade Prestegard, Addison Spears, and Colin Bruyns as the Cyber Converts. Our project focused on consolidating cybersecurity logs and data sources to create a simplified view that helps a Security Operations Center quickly understand what’s happening across a system. More than anything, the experience reinforced how valuable it is to collaborate with a strong team and learn together under a tight time frame. Hackathons have a way of pushing you to think creatively, solve problems quickly, and build something meaningful in a short amount of time. Of course, it wouldn’t be a hackathon without a game of spoons at 2am. I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate and proud of what our team accomplished. A big thank you to the UA Innovate leadership team for organizing such a great event, Jeff Lucas for being an incredible support (and for staying up with us through the night!), and Kim McClendon, our amazing company liaison. We also appreciate A Little Bit of HOPE for sponsoring the cybersecurity category and supporting student innovation. Looking forward to the next one! #UAInnovate #Cybersecurity #Hackathon #UniversityOfAlabama #Culverhouse #Teamwork #Tech

24 hours. One real-world challenge. One incredible team. Excited to share that Girwan Dhakal and I won 2nd place in the Data Analytics category at the UA Innovate Hackathon, hosted in partnership with Southern Company, and took home a $500 prize! The challenge felt very real. Southern Company manages thousands of network devices spread across countless locations. But their lifecycle data lives in disconnected, messy sources. That makes it hard for leaders to quickly identify aging infrastructure, assess risks, estimate replacement costs, or prioritize investments effectively. In just one day, we built Southern Company Fleet Analytics, an interactive decision-support platform designed to help leaders make smarter, multimillion-dollar infrastructure decisions by turning raw data into clear, actionable insights. Our dashboard delivers: - Executive-level KPIs and fleet health visibility - Geographic risk intelligence with hotspot mapping - Lifecycle and asset health monitoring - Cost and support risk analysis for prioritization - Investment planning tools to guide smart decisions The real engine behind it all was our automated data pipeline. We built a full ETL workflow that ingests messy, multi-sheet Excel files, joins inventory, location, lifecycle, and pricing data, calculates dynamic risk and cost metrics in real time, and outputs a single clean dataset that powers the entire dashboard. No manual prep, just upload and go. We also implemented AI-driven forecasting to model future risk scenarios using historical patterns, asset lifecycle curves, and cost trends. This helped decision-makers visualize how risk evolves over time, compare investment strategies, and see the impact of acting now vs. later. Huge thanks to the UA Innovate team and Southern Company for putting together such a thoughtful and real-world challenge. Experiences like this remind me why I love working in data. #UAInnovate #Hackathon #DataAnalytics #AI #Streamlit #Python #Teamwork #ETL #Forecasting #Innovation #Leadership

This weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in UA Innovate, made possible by the unwavering support of A Little Bit of HOPE. During this intense 24-hour hackathon, my team and I competed in the Social Innovation Challenge judged by The Coca-Cola Company. Our project, World Without Waste 3.0 AI, addressed a critical "execution gap" in the circular economy. While 99% of Coca-Cola's packaging is designed to be recyclable, the global collection rate for single-use PET bottles remains at roughly 58%. To solve this, we developed a predictive regression model on the Zerve AI platform to forecast recovery rates based on socioeconomic variables and infrastructure strength. By identifying regions that are underperforming relative to their resources, our solution simulates investment scenarios to help reach the 2035 goal of 70–75% collection. Beyond the technical challenge, I had the distinct pleasure of connecting with members of the Coca-Cola team, including Emily Calvin and Madeline Copeland. Their insights were instrumental in helping us deeply understand the "World Without Waste" mission and the real-world complexities of global sustainability. I am also deeply grateful to the faculty at Florida A&M University for their constant encouragement and for pushing me to apply myself to these high-impact opportunities. This experience was a profound milestone in my journey to bridge the gap between technical architecture and strategic social innovation. A huge thank you to A Little Bit of HOPE, UA Innovate, and my incredible teammates for such an inspiring weekend!

I'm so excited to share my 2nd place win at UA Innovate this weekend in the FinTech category! Sponsored by PNC, the prompt was to create a solution to help young adults make better monetary decisions. Over 24 hours, I dreamt up and created a working demo for PNC SmartStart, designed to analyze user's personal habits and guide them to financial success. You can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/e576RfUt It was clear to me this problem wasn't about a lack of information: in fact, the sheer volume of financial advice and options available online can be totally overwhelming. The obstacle for most young adults is that long-term consequences don't feel outweigh the appeal of short-term impulses. 19-year-olds know they should be investing for the future, but how does a daily latte purchase really affect that? That's why I zeroed in on Goal Mode: motivating young adults with tangible, mid-term goals (like a new car) and developing positive financial habits for their particular situation. My solution would operate through PNC's existing mobile app as a fresh UI users can opt-into: PNC Goal Mode. Once Goal Mode is enabled, users input their personal goals (such as an upcoming trip, large purchase, or paying off debt) and then receive a personalized diagnosis of their financials. Then, they're provided actionable recommendations to achieve their goals, such as capping monthly spending in categories like dining out, or auto-contributions to saving accounts. Sliders with built-in calculations allow users to customize their plan and see how quickly their progress can pay off with a few reallocations. Rather than gimmicky gamification, I wanted Goal Mode to be a focused version of the app we're already using. The landing page is a constant visual reminder of how small changes are adding up. The progress ring can be added as a widget to user's phone screens, or shared over text or social media. A monthly Goal Mode Wrapped reminds users of their streak and accomplishments for the month. Not a PNC client? You can visit the browser app get the diagnoses and suggestions for your personal goals, but for the automatic features, you'll have to switch over to PNC too. I pushed myself past my comfort zone and beyond what I knew I could do this weekend! Thank you to Darnell Lewis and Gracia Diaz Diaz from PNC for your guidance and support, Molly Waldron for bringing the energy as company liaison, and Robert Gill for your help too. Can't wait for next year!