Inspiration
Women make up only ~28% of the STEM workforce, and the gap starts early when students lose interest before choosing careers . We wanted to make STEM more accessible, relatable, and engaging for Australian girls through real mentorship.
What it does
STEMentor is a web platform that connects high school students with verified industry mentors.\ It offers:
- Personalized STEM quizzes
- Guided career pathways
- Gamified learning with rewards
- A safe, moderated community
How we built it
- Frontend: React + Vite (TypeScript), Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui
- Backend: Node.js + Express (TypeScript)
- Database: PostgreSQL
- Security: Bcrypt hashing, session-based auth, role-based access
Challenges we ran into
- Designing a secure mentor verification system
- Creating meaningful career pathways for diverse STEM fields
- Balancing gamification with real educational value
- Ensuring a safe environment for minors
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Built a fully functional mentorship platform
- Implemented personalized career discovery journeys
- Created a reward-based engagement system
- Designed a clean, scalable full-stack architecture
What we learned
- The importance of user trust and safety in education platforms
- How to design engaging learning experiences, not just features
- Working effectively as a team under hackathon constraints
- Balancing technical implementation with real-world impact
What's next for STEMentor
- Expand mentor network across Australia
- Add AI-driven career recommendations
- Partner with schools and organizations
- Launch mobile version
- Enhance analytics to track student progress and outcomes
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