2024 Hacks with Friends Pitches

Hacks with Friends 2024 - November 14-15, 2024

All pitches submitted for the 2024 Hacks with Friends are displayed below.

Pitch #1: VIP Data - Relax or Panic

Pitch Leader(s): Derrick Tietz, ITS Data Science Practice

Category: Technology Track: Revitalize Traditional Hacks and Bring Ideas to Life

Skills Needed: Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, Documentation Specialists, Informatica Developers

Description:

A companion to our "Running Late" email process, which operates every half-hour from 7–9 a.m.

  • If very important data warehouse refresh processes are complete, a new email will state: "Relax, VIP Data Refreshes are done!" and the body of the email will provide details.
  • If any VIP data refreshes are still pending, the email will say: "Caution, VIP Data Refreshes are pending," and will include details, including the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

This will be an expansion of our current "Running Late" process, which uses Informatica Cloud. Utilizing Informatica for this expansion makes sense, as it allows us to reuse much of the existing code.

 

Pitch #2: No Technology Is Inevitable: Critically Assessing and Disrupting "AI" at the University of Michigan

Pitch Leader(s): Aaron Stark, ITS Enterprise App Svcs

Category: Technology Track: Revitalize Traditional Hacks and Bring Ideas to Life

Skills Needed: Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Developers - TBD, UX Designers, UI Designers, Project Managers, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, Data Scientists, Documentation Specialists

Description:

The technologies known as "AI" are now widely recognized as contributing to labor exploitation, environmental destruction, and stealing the intellectual property of artists and internet users. Nevertheless, ITS management and the University of Michigan's top leadership have jumped headlong on the AI hype train. The goal of this project is to start a critical assessment of these technologies and to organize with faculty and staff on ways to shut down AI at U-M.

Specific goals for this project:

  • Develop public media (social media accounts or microsites) detailing the ethical problems of U-M/ITS' use of AI.
  • Develop collaboration spaces for U-M staff and faculty critical of AI to organize.
  • Following the innovative contract language won by SAG-AFTRA, reach out to U-M labor unions (GEO, LEO, and others) to advocate including language in union contracts either banning the use of AI at U-M or tightly regulating it.
  • Following the vision of Ali Alkhatib's Destroy AI blog post, investigate technologies that could be used (hypothetically!) to destroy, sabotage, or poison AI datasets.

 

Pitch #3: Withdrawn

Pitch withdrawn.

Pitch #4: NameCoach Roulette

Pitch Leader(s): Diana Perpich, Library

Category: Technology Track: Revitalize Traditional Hacks and Bring Ideas to Life

Skills Needed: Systems Analysts, Developers - TBD, UX Designers, Project Managers

Description:

What if the NameCoach tool in Canvas had a Problem Roulette feature where you could practice speaking the names of your students via digital flashcards? How much more comfortable might it allow instructors and students to be when interacting? We value learners' and instructors' individuality enough to include NameCoach in the default set of Canvas tools visible by default in every site. Let's hack NameCoach, Problem Roulette, and Canvas to put the COACH in NameCoach.

Pitch #5: Google Suite + AI

Pitch Leader(s): Christopher Hansen, Treasury/Finance

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Skills Needed: Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Developers - Mobile, Developers - Front-End, Developers - TBD, UX Designers, UI Designers, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, IT Security Specialist, any and all can assist, just need to be curious and a self starter

Description:

Revolutionize U-M's workflow by integrating U-M GPT with Google Sheets via Google App Script. This project creates a central dashboard in Google Sheets for AI-assisted email management, calendar scheduling, and document assistance.

Key features:

  • Draft and analyze emails using U-M GPT directly from spreadsheet cells
  • AI-powered calendar event suggestions and creation
  • Get writing assistance and summaries for documents

Implementation involves developing Google App Script functions for API calls between Sheets and U-M GPT, creating a user-friendly template, and adding custom menu items for easy access.

This low-code solution offers accessible AI-assisted productivity for all skill levels, centralizing task management in a familiar environment. It demonstrates innovative use of existing tools, promoting efficiency across U-M.

Join us to build this simple yet powerful tool! Skills needed: Google App Script, API integration, and Google Sheets expertise.

FINALIST - Pitch #6: Agent Smith: A Community Platform to Build, Clone, and Share AI Agents

Pitch Leader(s): Jeffrey Rosczyk, CHCR

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Description:

AI is everywhere, transforming how we interact with technology. Yet, despite the surge in AI tools, there's still no straightforward way to create, train, and share AI agents.

Agent Smith is a community-driven platform that changes that. It empowers users to easily build and train AI agents, with the flexibility to share them publicly or privately. Inspired by the iconic character from The Matrix, Agent Smith agents can be cloned and forked—much like code on GitHub—allowing users to replicate, customize, and enhance existing agents with ease.

With Agent Smith, AI creation becomes a collaborative, open process where anyone can contribute, innovate, and improve.

FINALIST - Pitch #7: Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders Today: Shaping the Perfect Internship Experience Together

Pitch Leader(s): Claire Tucker & Jared Walfish, ITS Internship Program

Category: Human-Based (Non-Code) Track: Empowering People, Enhancing Processes

Skills Needed: Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Developers - TBD, UX Designers, UI Designers, Project Managers, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, Documentation Specialists, Anyone that wants to join!

Description:

We are seeking innovative strategies to attract managers and supervisors to embrace the value of hosting an intern. As key decision-makers, you understand the critical need for fresh, dynamic talent to energize your teams. Interns bring new ideas, up-to-date skills, and a passion for learning—assets that can drive significant contributions to your organization.

To achieve this, we need your insights. What incentives, support mechanisms, or program features would make hosting an intern a compelling opportunity for you? Whether it's structured mentorship programs, exclusive leadership training, or streamlined onboarding processes, your feedback is invaluable.

By helping us craft an impactful proposal, you'll play a crucial role in fostering the next generation of professionals while gaining a pipeline of potential future employees. Share your thoughts and let's co-create a program that not only meets your needs but also propels your team towards greater innovation and success.

Video Description 

Pitch #8: Unearthing an app to autopopulate Google calendars with course schedules

Pitch Leader(s): Phill Cameron, Language Resource Center

Category: Technology Track: Revitalize Traditional Hacks and Bring Ideas to Life

Skills Needed: Systems Analysts, Developers - Full-Stack, Developers - Front-End, Developers - Back-End, UI Designers

Description:

Coordinating meetings between multiple faculty and staff via email can be a very time consuming process. It would be great if there were a once-a-semester button or website that faculty could go to that auto populates their courses on their Google Calendar.

These calendar events would only be "Busy" meetings scheduled during their class times, but this would still save at least one email back-and-forth when scheduling meetings across units.

Pitch #9: Withdrawn

Pitch withdrawn.

Pitch #10: ProCoachAI - Professional Coaching with GenAI

Pitch Leader(s): Zhen Qian, ITS Teaching and Learning

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Skills Needed: Business Analysts, Developers - Full-Stack, Developers - Front-End, Developers - Back-End, UX Designers, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader

Description:

Many professionals face challenges in finding affordable and personalized coaching. This coaching is crucial for career navigation, skill development, and goal achievement. However, traditional coaching methods are often costly and time-consuming, making them inaccessible to many who need them the most.

ProCoachAI aims to democratize access to high-quality coaching, making it affordable and accessible to everyone. ProCoachAI coaching platform provides personalized career guidance, skill development, and performance enhancement for professional working in Higher Ed:

List of Key Features:

  • Users can set personalized career goals, strengths, and areas for improvement.
  • Real-Time actionable feedback based on user data (calendar events, emails, documentations, video recordings, etc.), industry trends, and best practices.
  • AI-driven recommendations for courses and resources for skills development.
  • Status Tracking for achieving career milestones.
  • 24/7 Accessibility: Available anytime, anywhere, ensuring continuous support.
  • Data Reports: Users can share reports with the management and HR team.

 

FINALIST - Pitch #11: Extend Maizey to API Directory

Pitch Leader(s): Kranthi Bandaru, ITS Data Science Practice

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Skills Needed: Systems Analysts, Developers - Full-Stack, Developers - Middle-Tier, Developers - Back-End, Documentation Specialists

Description:

Hello Michigan Community,

Are you tired of searching through multiple webpages to find a classroom location?
Curious about the courses available for the Engineering track?
Need to know a person's preferred name or pronoun?
Looking for the menu at a U-M dining hall?
Want a list of Community members?

My hack could be the solution you're looking for. The idea is to have the Maizey tool connect to API Directory APIs to provide answers when users ask questions. We have a variety of APIs in our catalog that we can utilize for this project. If you're interested, please join the hack.

Take a moment to check out the video if you have time. Cheers!

Thanks,
Kranthi

Video Description 

Pitch #12: Withdrawn

Pitch withdrawn.

Pitch #13: Adaptive AI Training Simulator

Pitch Leader(s): Ben Andries, ITS Support Svcs, Emerging Tech & AI Svcs

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Skills Needed: Business Analysts, Developers - Front-End, Developers - Back-End, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, Documentation Specialists, Service Center Specialists

Description:

Accelerate employee readiness with an AI-driven training simulator designed to replicate the hands-on learning typically gained through real-world experience. This adaptive solution allows teams to create customized simulations for a wide range of training scenarios, from customer service to internal operations. By simulating real-world challenges and providing access to relevant knowledge bases and documentation, the AI bot enables staff to gain hands-on experience in diagnosing and resolving problems. Tailored to each department's specific needs, this tool offers an interactive and scalable approach to training, helping employees master complex tasks and improve performance across the board.

FINALIST - Pitch #14: Documentation Makeover Bot

Pitch Leader(s): Dan Powell, ITS Systems Operations

Category: Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence

Skills Needed: Developers - TBD, UI Designers, Presenter / Promoter / Cheerleader, IT Security Specialist, Documentation Specialists

Description:

Use Maizey to examine a document repository that contains loosely structured, internal documentation and writes new, deduplicated, and well-structured documents in a format that can then be imported into a new repository.