Finalists in the 2015 Mobile Application Development (MAD) Contest, sponsored by State Farm, have been announced following the initial application “pitch presentations” on February 11–12.

This is the fourth year State Farm has sponsored the MAD Contest, which allows Illinois State students to demonstrate their programming skills and compete for valuable prizes.

Students who entered either as individuals or two-person teams pitched their application concept and development strategy to a judging panel of School of Information Technology faculty and State Farm IT professionals. The judges selected the contestants who will advance to the final round of competition. Finalists will develop their working applications and present them for judging on April 9. Winners will be awarded prizes, courtesy of State Farm.

The 2015 MAD Contest finalists and their mobile application projects are:

  • Mike Rinehart: Ride Guide (designated driver social media app)
  • Alex Auer and George Herrmann: On Your Marks (grade tracking app with future enhancements)
  • Nikunj Ratnaparkhi and Shweta Vyas: Let’s Team UP (app to match employee talents to project needs)
  • Jared Weiss and Jon Mitchell: ClickIt (app to obtain info on nearby locations via GPS/database)

The public is invited to attend the final presentations, which will take place at 6 p.m. April 9, 2015, in 401 Stevenson Hall.