{"682732":{"#nid":"682732","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Find a Feline: A New App Helps Georgia Tech Track Its Campus Cats","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen visitors come to Georgia Tech, they can meet some of the top scientists in the world, the next generation of researchers \u2014 and a few dozen feral and stray cats. Everywhere from the eaves of Bobby Dodd Stadium to the bushes surrounding the School of Architecture buildings, more than 40 cats call campus home.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe cats love Georgia Tech \u2014 not just for the adoring students who try to sneak in pets between classes, but also because of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtcampuscats.org\/\u0022\u003EGT Campus Cats\u003C\/a\u003E. The registered student organization is led by undergraduates who feed, provide shelter, handle trap-neuter-return (TNR) services, facilitate fosters and finding forever homes, and provide veterinary care to members of the cat colony. Now their work is a lot easier, thanks to a new app.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped by computer science students in a capstone class, the app simplifies tracking the cats on campus. Anyone with a GT login can access the app, where they can see photos and bios of known cats, explore a map of sightings, and even add their own.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding the Purrfect App\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECaroline Hatcher began her term as GT Campus Cats president in November 2024. At the time, the organization relied on the website platform iNaturalist to follow the cats, but the system wasn\u2019t very user-friendly. So, when a computer science (CS) capstone class asked the group if they could design an app for them, the group pounced on the offer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur main concern was being able to use it on a phone because iNaturalist doesn\u2019t work well on mobile,\u201d said Hatcher, a fourth-year architecture student. \u201cWith the app, you can log in with the GT single sign-on, which makes it easier for students to use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough virtual meetings over five months, organization members worked with the CS students to determine the app\u2019s needed features. The team included computer science undergraduates Will Akins, Matthew Pendarvis, Dragos Lup, Robert Zhu, and Amulya Panakam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHatcher could tell it was more than just a final project for them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe computer science students were genuinely interested and came out to workdays with us when we built shelters or did TNR, so we could tell that they cared,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the biggest concerns was who could have access to the app. While GT Campus Cats has 250 members, with\u0026nbsp;80 assisting with TNR, shelter maintenance, and feeding the cats, up to 2,500 people are on the organization\u2019s GroupMe text chat. As popular as the cats are, the group wants to ensure they stay safe, and they don\u2019t want to encourage strays being left on campus. Consequently, the app has different permissions for different members. Anyone with a GT login can view which cats have been identified and report sightings. But only group members can see where the 14 campus feeding stations are.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaintaining the Meow Map\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the CS students who created it, making the app was rewarding. Unexpectedly, half of them are allergic to cats but wanted to help the campus cats anyway.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe wanted to build this because we knew it would have a tangible impact on the campus, like the\u0026nbsp;GT scheduler, a tool to help people create their class schedules that\u0026nbsp;students also developed,\u201d explained Robert Zhu, who graduated this spring. \u201cThe chance to leave that kind of legacy is something we were very interested in.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the capstone project is over, use of the app is rapidly increasing. Hatcher is actively adding cat profiles to the map, and Zhu plans to refine the code this summer. He hopes the app will eventually be maintained by student nonprofit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bitsofgood.org\/\u0022\u003EBits of Good\u003C\/a\u003E to ensure it keeps meeting the needs of GT Campus Cats \u2014 and, of course, the four-legged friends it serves.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECreated by computer science undergraduates, the app makes the student organization\u2019s job easier.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Created by computer science undergraduates, the app makes the student organization\u2019s job easier."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2025-06-09 13:49:50","changed_gmt":"2025-06-09 14:03:39","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677202":{"id":"677202","type":"image","title":"Gracie-Kitty-003.JPG","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPetunia, a campus cat who has now been adopted, in her GT home. [Photo by Allison Carter]\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1749477217","gmt_created":"2025-06-09 13:53:37","changed":"1749477217","gmt_changed":"2025-06-09 13:53:37","alt":"Campus cat","file":{"fid":"261077","name":"Gracie-Kitty-003.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/09\/Gracie-Kitty-003.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/09\/Gracie-Kitty-003.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5366602,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/06\/09\/Gracie-Kitty-003.JPG?itok=xWUfngVt"}},"677203":{"id":"677203","type":"video","title":"Campus Cats","body":"\u003Cp\u003ECreated by computer science undergrads, the app allows community members to track the cats on the Georgia Tech campus in an effort to keep them healthy and fed.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1749477670","gmt_created":"2025-06-09 14:01:10","changed":"1749477670","gmt_changed":"2025-06-09 14:01:10","video":{"youtube_id":"CKSJxY8Q4uI","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CKSJxY8Q4uI"}}},"media_ids":["677202","677203"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Etess.malone@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}