Verizon Smart Campus Competition Winners Deliver Innovative Solutions
The Verizon Smart Campus Competition invited student teams of sophomores and juniors from across Rutgers-New Brunswick to reimagine a connected campus through innovation and 5G technology. This pilot program was led by Verizon in partnership with Rutgers School of Engineering (SoE) and open to all Rutgers-New Brunswick students to foster the next generation of engineers and to serve as a catalyst, inspiring students to think creatively and develop solutions that use the power of 5G to elevate the experience on campus.
According to Colette Hazen, director of the Channel Readiness Consumer Group at Verizon, the wireless communications company was focused on creating an experience that would not only equip students with essential skills for the future but also instill in them a passion for technological advancement that will shape the landscape of tomorrow.
More than 78 Rutgers students took part, developing their projects over the course of the competition and offering innovative solutions that used smart technologies to address challenges in everything from campus safety and accessibility to technological innovation in campus services. Verizon coaches – professional volunteers from across the company – met with the students and provided insight and feedback.
In the final round of the competition during a dinner and networking event on February 19, 10 teams gave five-minute presentations. A panel of judges composed of leaders from Verizon and the Rutgers community evaluated the presentations. Judges from Verizon were SoE graduate Mike Haberman, senior vice president for strategy and transformation, Garima Garg, associate vice president for network planning, and Mike Hoarle, senior director for network planning. Alberto Cuitiño, dean of the School of Engineering, Michele Norin, senior vice president and chief information officer, and Chuck Keeton, vice provost for experiential learning represented Rutgers.
“Our collaboration with Rutgers and dedicated mentorship from our Verizon Engineer Coaches has been instrumental in the success of this initiative,” says Hazen. “Their unwavering support and commitment to fostering a culture of innovation has provided an ideal environment for this program to flourish. We are excited to continue this partnership and explore new avenues for collaboration that will further drive technological progress and empower the next generation of engineers."
Each of the three winning teams received a $3,000 award to split among team members. Additionally, these teams were invited to present their projects to Verizon leadership at the Verizon Executive Business Center in Basking Ridge, NJ.
And the Winning Teams Are
Team Scarlet Impact’s winning UNIVIEW project devised parking solutions for commuter students using IoT.
UNIVIEW is a scalable solution designed to alleviate campus congestion at Rutgers by providing real-time data on parking, study spaces, and facility usage. Leveraging IoT cameras, Verizon’s 5G network, and AWS cloud services, it delivers live recommendations and analytics to optimize traffic flow and parking space allocation during peak times. Commuters, students, faculty, and visitors benefit from UNIVIEW’S enhanced mobility and streamlined access to resources, while the university benefits from revenue generated by premium parking reservations and in-app advertisements. By prioritizing privacy and cost efficiency, UNIVIEW offers a dynamic, data-driven approach to transforming and improving campus accessibility and navigation.
Scarlet Impact team members were industrial and systems engineering majors Nadya Budhan ENG’27, Robert Ilcyn ENG’27, and Yusuf Lee ENG’27, as well as information technology and informatics major Nitya Kumar.
The Team 5Guys project, AccessED, would enhance lecture accessibility by providing real-time transcription and language translation, and ASL recognition.
Even in a globalized world, language barriers hinder effective communication and collaboration. This project proposes developing augmented reality, or AR, glasses equipped with an AI-powered translation algorithm and a companion mobile app to enable real-time translation of spoken and sign languages. By using cutting-edge AR hardware, machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision, AccessED delivers seamless, context-aware translations directly into the user’s field of view. Ethical considerations such as fairness and bias are addressed to ensure an inclusive experience beyond the lecture hall for business, education, tourism, and more. These AR glasses could potentially revolutionize global communication by fostering cross-cultural collaboration and breaking down language barriers.
Five Guys team members included industrial and systems engineering and computer science major Michael Galsim ENG’26, biomedical engineering and computer science majors Shivam Pate ENG’26 and Vedant Ramabadran ENG’26, computer science major Mohit Singh SAS’26, and computer science and physics major Sharvil Limaye SAS’26.
Team RU LockedIn’s project RUNetworking developed a unified course planning and student networking platform.
RUNetworking is designed to simplify currently scattered resources at Rutgers, for more accessible course information and schedule planning. By consolidating data into a single searchable database while incorporating an AI-powered scheduling assistant, RUNetworking offers tailored course recommendations based on students’ academic requirements, career goals, and personal interests. It also fosters meaningful peer connections by creating profiles that help students, especially new and transfer students, find classmates with similar schedules and academic paths. RUNetworking would transform the course selection process and enhance campus community engagement through innovative, scalable, and cost-effective technology.
Team members Praneeth Damarla ENG’27, Nihal Walia ENG’27, and Callum Serbetci ENG’27 majoring in electrical and computer engineering were joined by computer science majors Sudheep Gandepudi SAS’27 and Animesh Jadhav SAS’27.
