---

Background

Emergency room wait times can exceed over 4 hours. SwiftER is here to stop that.

Created for Ignition Hacks 2024 SwiftER has gone through many iterations. We have worked with medical professionals to flesh out SwiftER. SwiftER was also a finalist for DMZ x MyBlueprint Micro Grant

The Problem

Ontario's emergency rooms are clearly overwhelmed, 1 in 7 ER visits could have been handled by a family doctor, lengthening the already unbearable wait, and causing doctors to burn out. This is directly correlated to an increased risk of 7-day mortality, harming patients.

The Solution

SwiftER helps solve the problem by providing live wait time updates for over 40 hospitals across Ontario. Additionally, we prioritise transparency, ensuring that users are aware of all their options straight from the home page (right). SwiftER also prioritizes the user experience, with a fully functional map (left).

Additionally, after speaking with medical professionals, we realized that one of Ontario's largest problems is it's silo-based approach to healthcare. This lack of integration in between health services leads to many inefficiencies which prolong the wait.

SwiftER aims to solve this by guiding users to the appropriate healthcare option through it's innovative prescreening feature.

Once the prescreen is submitted, SwiftER uses AI to determine whether or not emergency care is the right care for the user. If it's appropriate, they are given a waiting ticket where they can track their wait from the comfort of their own home. Their information is also sent to their selected hospital, removing tedious paperwork for doctors.

If emergency care is not the right care for the user, SwiftER guides the user to different healthcare options. However, we are aware that not everyone fits the mold, thus we still give users an option to submit their ticket.

Competitor Analysis

There are only a few competitors, however, all of them lack important features. For example, hospital websites display wait times, however, some of them are not live and have poor user interface. Other independent websites don't guide users, making it difficult for users to navigate the complex healthcare scene.

Pitch

Watch our pitch for the DMZ x MyBlueprint Micro Grant below!

---

Background

Everyday, over 1,300 tonnes of CO2 are produced per second. Ecoscore allows users to track their carbon footprint in a fun and interactive way!

The Problem

As society becomes more and more industrialized, our planet is becoming more and more polluted. Even though there are many tools such as carbon trackers to help users reduce their impact, staying motivated remains a significant challenge.

The Solution

Ecoscore provides users with incentives to stay motivated.

Everyday, users are prompted to complete a short carbon footprint quiz where EcoScore's algorithm computes their daily carbon footprint.

In terms of the quiz, we researched a variety of questions and methods to calculate an individual's carbon footprint so that we could create an accurate algorithm. Since we wanted to implement as few questions as possible so that users wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed by the amount of questions being asked, we ended up choosing to stick with 7 questions that encompassed a wide range of daily activities that affected a user's carbon footprint.

After deciding on the questions, we then assigned “weight” values to each category, making the calculation process easier. For example, if the weight for one question was greater than another question, that question would result in a greater affect on the carbon footprint score.

As users complete their daily quizzes, they also earn “trees” which slowly grow as they complete each question.

If a user fails to complete their quiz, the tree will "die," resulting in the loss of a tree.

The final carbon footprint score is then stored in a variable and uploaded into Firebase where the user's statistics lives. This information is grabbed all throughout the app to show stats.

These “trees” provide users with the incentive to complete their daily quizzes, and they can view the amount of trees they've collected in their stats page.

Users are also able to view their calculated daily footprint, and see how it compares to their past footprint from the previous days through a bar chart.

EcoScore also allows users to compete with other people around the world through its daily leaderboard that is updated each day. This further incentivizes users to lower their carbon footprint as they attempt to climb the leaderboard.

Summary

Ecoscore is a gamified platform that incentivizes users to track and monitor their carbon footprint through its "tree-growing" feature and leaderboards. By motivating users to stay consistent, Ecoscore aims to help users reduce their carbon footprint and make a positive impact on the environment.

---

Background & Inspo

After seeing everyone around me create amazing portfolios, I wanted to create my own to showcase some of my projects :)

My portfolio was inspired by a retro video game. I initially wanted to recreate a mario-esque like layout, complete with an in-depth character description. However, I decided to take the design in a different direction and instead focus on a strong pixel art theme that mimicked and captured a more nostalgic, game-like feel.

Graphics

One of the harder parts of this portfolio (but most rewarding) was creating the graphics.

Basically everything (apart from some elements) were hand drawn by me on professional illustration software. I had so much fun experimenting with GIFs (I pronounce it "jif") and different animations. Having never done pixel art, it was a great opportunity for me to try something new!

Animating the GIFs was a bit complicated. Since the software I was using did not support animations directly, I had to find a new approach that would allow me to animate multiple frames.

After researching a few options, I settled on using Canva to resize all the images so that they were properly aligned, then uploaded all the files to a GIF compiler. In total, each GIF consisted from 20 frames to upwards of 30-40 frames.

Coding

This website was entirely coded using HTML, CSS, and JS.

The hardest portion of the code was trying to ensure a responsive design. I tested a variety of solutions including flexboxes and grids, vw and vh units, and a variety of media queries. So if you see any bugs, please let me know!

In terms of JS, because I'm still learning (as of July 2025), I only implemented very simple JS functions which included buttons. For the typing animation, I followed a tutorial online to recreate the effect.

Summary

Overall, this portfolio project was a fantastic opportunity for me to learn and grow as a developer. I was able to experiment with new technologies, improve my design skills, and create a unique and engaging user experience!

---

Background

What would happen if Yelp and Instagram had a child? Well, Ferret would be born!

Created for a Junior Achievement Company Pitch, supported by Deloitte, Ferret was pitched in front of advisors from brands like Deloitte and Shopify, as well as peers from across the GTA.

Ferret eventually made it to the final round of pitching, where it came in 2nd place!

The Problem

It's a struggle to find unique things to do when you're not a tourist— You can only seem to fine big attractions that you've been countless of times. Small businesses, which are local undiscovered gems, also struggle to get their name out there.

The Solution

Ferret seeks to address both groups by leveraging social media as a tool to deliver information as well as creating a "public review" and "private review" feature.

Users are able to view reviews from their friends only, eliminating the risk of fake reviews. Additionally, the social media layout allows businesses to capture a larger audience.

Market Research

When conducting market research, a whopping 69.2% of users solely use a map app for tourism purposes. Furthermore, the second largest group, 16.9% of Gen Z, selected that they do not use any tourism apps. Thus, it is clear that tourism-related apps aren't doing what they set out to do for the majority of users.

When asked about social media habits, only 1 out of our 65 participants said that they did not use social media apps. Ferret aims to take advantage of this by turning a tourism app into a social media platform.

Competitor Analysis

Ferret is completely unique. It combines all the best aspects of social media and tourism apps, creating the perfect combination.

Furthermore, because our app is styled as a sort of social media, you are bound to discover the more unique things to do in Toronto, as on applications like Yelp, you tend to only find the more cliche things to do.

Revenue Model

Ferret will charge a one time fee for businesses to be on our app, roughly 20 dollars, after a short free trial. Businesses can also pay an additional fee to send push notifications to those who have favorited locations.

For users, Ferret will be mainly free, with a few subscription plans including premium discounts and early access to events. This free app will set Ferret apart from many tourism apps, since many paid features usually make or break the app.

Promos

Ferret aims to increase transparency within the tourism industry. Thus, all our promos are centered around transparency and honesty.

Wire Frames

Below are some wireframes of Ferret.

---

Background

On July 26th, 2025, I participated in Waterloo's Flow Designathon. With only 7.5 hours to design a high-fidelity prototype of an app, I along with my three other teammates ventured out to create ExploreOn.

The Prompt

How might we design exciting and inclusive learning experiences that reduce barriers for children in education?

Ideation

Initially, we spent around the first three hours just ideating many ideas. Our main process was to first define what an education barrier was. We discussed a variety of challenges students face including: financial struggles, lack of motivation, lack of resources, learning needs (autism, adhd), etc. We ended up focusing in on the lack of motivation aspect combined with the issue of ADHD due to their correlation. We beleived that many of the issues children face in having a fun and enjoyable learning experience can be stemmed from a lack of motivation.

After defining our educational barrier, we began brainstorming potential solutions. We researched many existing solutions including Prodigy. We found that though Prodigy did provide students with a fun learning experience through a gamified experience, many users found that children weren't learning properly through the program due to Prodigy's advertisement and market-based approach.

My group and I decided to leverage a gamified approach, like Prodigy, to help students feel motivated to learn. However, we took Prodigy's flaws into account and aimed to create a more effective platform that balanced fun and educational. We also wanted to bring in the new technology of Augmented Reality to make our app even more engaging. Because our app leverages Augmented Reality technology, students have the freedom to learn anytime and anywhere. They’re no longer confined to traditional classrooms, and their learning becomes an interactive experience.

We also researched more into ADHD and found that in 2024, Western University's Faculty of Education discovered that movement stimulated blood flow to the brain, allowing students with ADHD to perform otherwise challenging attention-demanding activities in school. Thus, we aimed to incorporate movement-based activities into our app to better support these students.

The Solution

Our solution, ExploreOn, became an Augmented Reality gamified app that allowed students to learn anywhere, allowing students who struggle to stay focus (including those with ADHD) to access the same curriculum outside of a constricted environment.

On the app, teachers are able to upload ready-to-go AR modules that match the current educational curriculum. Students are able to go outside and explore the world around them, learning with just the touch of their fingers.

For example, in a science class, teachers may want students to learn about the plants surrounding them. Instead of being crammed in a classroom for over an hour, students are able to point their device to a real life plant and learn more about them.

Students can even earn achievements and rewards for completing lessons and uncovering new knowledge. By levelling up, students are able to customize their avatar, adding pets and different clothing. This incentivizes students to continue exploring, eliminating the lack of motivation that is present in classes.

We also wanted to include a collaborative element because social interactions play a critical role during a child's development. Students are able to chat with their peers and collaborate on "missions" sent by their teachers. They can also take photos of what they find and share them with the rest of their class, fostering a sense of community.

Summary

Over the course of 7.5 hours, my team and I created ExploreOn, an AR gamified platform that allows students to learn anywhere, anytime. With any simple handheld device with a camera, students (especially those who struggle to stay focused) can learn outside the traditional class environment, making education more accessible and engaging for all.