helMET!

Guarding Journeys To Success

helMET! was inspired by the pressing need to support first-generation and low-income students who often face significant challenges in accessing educational resources and community support. We saw an opportunity to create a platform that not only helps students find scholarships, internships, and job opportunities but also improves their overall quality of life by addressing food insecurity and providing essential items.

What is helMET?

helMET! is a comprehensive platform designed to integrate features such as a messaging platform for connecting with businesses, access to scholarships and job opportunities, resource distribution for essentials like food and electronics, and community discussion forums to foster connections and organize events.

helMET! is dedicated to transforming the lives of students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds. Our mission is to increase access to critical opportunities such as scholarships, part-time jobs, and educational resources. We are committed not only to supporting students in their academic and professional journeys but also to enhancing their overall quality of life. Our platform provides essential resources including food, electronics, and other necessities to those in need. helMET! strives to foster community building through discussion forums, creating a space where students can connect, share experiences, and form valuable networks more efficiently than ever before.

How we built it

We built the user interface of helMET! primarily through Figma. We conducted research on existing apps that carry similar interfaces and ideas, and we found that while there are many apps that individually address the issues we have focused on, not many have focused on a holistic approach. Furthermore, research has found that trends in education have proven that reliance on technology for custom exepriences are on the rise, thus our idea for helMET! was born.

Our design can be found here:
https://www.figma.com/proto/izYqdGo6SXQ5ZElHog8sHA/helmet?node-id=275-365&t=jTI7ufJu5ramlh0f-1&scaling=min-zoom&content-scaling=fixed&page-id=0%3A1

Our pitch report can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rEsKHnnG3K2QxXXQnkLDMGA1Q4DM3g6OCkHHFL_ygiw/edit?usp=sharing

Challenges we ran into

We faced several challenges during development, including integrating multiple features into a cohesive platform, ensuring the platform's scalability and performance, and addressing the diverse needs of our target users.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of successfully integrating a wide range of features into a single platform, including volunteer opportunities, resource distribution, and community forums.

What we learned

Throughout the development process, we learned the importance of user feedback and iterative design in creating a successful platform.

What's next for helMET!

We’ve potentially created a space where students can not only find scholarships and job opportunities but also access essential resources like food and electronics. Seeing these features come to life and witnessing their positive impact on users will be truly rewarding.