AcademiaConnect

AcademiaConnect Landing Page

Inspiration

University students often struggle with fragmented communication between classmates and faculty. Important updates are lost across platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook groups, or email. AcademiaConnect solves this by offering a unified academic networking app where students and teachers can post, interact, and stay informed.

What It Does

AcademiaConnect is a mobile-first social platform designed exclusively for universities. It provides:

🔍 Search Functionality: Find friends, classmates, or faculty profiles.
📰 Feed: View posts, updates, announcements, or discussions.
🔔 Notifications: Get alerts for class updates, likes, comments, and more.
🗓 Schedule View: Sync your class schedule and view upcoming lectures.
👤 Profile Pages: Personalized profiles with academic and social info.

How We Built It

Designed frontend using React Native + TypeScript for a scalable and fluid mobile experience.
Used Supabase for:
- Auth (signup/login with role-based access)
- Realtime data handling
- PostgreSQL backend
- Storage for user images
UI designed using Galileo AI, inspired by glassmorphism for a clean, modern feel.

Challenges We Ran Into

Designing a UI that balances academic utility and social engagement
Managing relational data in Supabase (e.g., friendships, likes, comments)
Handling real-time sync with minimal latency

What We Learned

Deepened our understanding of Supabase’s role-based policies and triggers
Best practices for building scalable mobile apps with Expo
UI/UX principles for Gen Z-focused apps

What's Next

🎓 University verification via email domains
💬 Chat or messaging features
📚 Course group discussion boards
🔐 OAuth integration for academic platforms (Google Classroom, Moodle)