FixIT

Inspiration

The inspiration for FixIT came from observing the everyday challenges faced by students, faculty, and staff at CMU-Africa. Projectors would occasionally fail, air- conditioners would stop working, and technical support requests often took time to re- solve. We realized that while CMU-Africa is a hub of innovation and technology, some of its maintenance and support processes still relied on manual systems. This contrast motivated us to design a solution that embodies the university’s commitment- ment to efficiency and excellence. We wanted to build something that transforms small frustrations into seamless experiences and reflects CMU-Africa’s technological spirit in every corner of the campus.

What it does

FixIT is an automated maintenance and IT support platform that simplifies how students and staff report technical or facility issues. Through the app, users can submit a request, attach a photo showing the problem, specify its location, and track the progress of their request in real time. The system then directs each issue to the right technician or department, ensuring faster response and greater accountability. It also provides ad- ministrators with data insights such as the number of issues reported, average response time, and overall user satisfaction. In short, FixIT bridges the communication gap between users and support teams, turning maintenance into a transparent, data-driven process.

How we built it

We developed FixIT using a modern approach. The frontend was created with React and Tailwind CSS to ensure a clean, responsive, and intuitive user interface. On the backend, we intend to use Node.js and Express to handle requests and API communi- cation efficiently. MySQL will serve as the database for securely storing user submissions, issue details, and progress updates. To manage uploaded photos, we will use cloud storage integration that keeps image data organized and accessible. The system also includes an administrative dashboard where staff can view and manage maintenance requests dy- namically. All components were tested locally in VS Code before deployment in a GitHub page environment for broader testing and collaboration.

Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges we faced was setting up the development environment, espe- cially managing environment variables and package installations across different systems. Another challenge involved designing the analytics dash- board so that complex data like issue frequency and response times could be presented in a simple, meaningful way. Balancing functionality with user experience took multiple iterations. Despite these difficulties, teamwork and persistence allowed us to overcome the hurdles and complete a working prototype system that met our original vision.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of how FixIT evolved from a simple idea into a working solution that can genuinely improve campus operations. Our system can record maintenance re- quests, upload visual evidence, and provide real-time updates to users, all while keeping data secure and accessible. The feedback we received during initial testing was encourag- ing students found the interface easy to use and appreciated the transparency it introduced to maintenance workflows. Seeing how our project could enhance daily campus life and align with CMU-Africa’s innovation goals was one of our biggest achieve- ments.

What we learned

Building FixIT taught us that technology has the greatest impact when it’s de- signed with people in mind. We learned how to integrate different technologies into a cohesive system and improved our skills in development, database management, and cloud integration. The project also emphasized the importance of design thinking, us- ability testing, and continuous improvement. Most importantly, it showed us how digital solutions can reinforce an institution’s reputation by directly improving user experiences and operational efficiency.

What's next for FixIT

Our next step for FixIT is to introduce intelligent features such as AI-powered chat box to help find the right department, provide suggestions regarding what the user should perhaps try before requesting anything, give maintenance predictions, and IoT-based monitoring. For instance, classroom sensors could automatically detect and report equipment malfunctions without user intervention. We also plan to develop a mobile version of the app for easier accessibility and to integrate single sign-on with CMU-Africa’s existing systems. Ultimately, we aim to launch FixIT as a pilot program on campus, gather user feedback, and refine it into a scalable solution that other universities across Africa can adopt. This will help position CMU- Africa as a model for smart, digitally connected campuses.