{"682917":{"#nid":"682917","#data":{"type":"news","title":" OMSCS Team Takes Entrepreneurial Tack to Win $10,000 in Microsoft Azure Challenge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team of Georgia Tech graduate students is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help people with disabilities find their dream jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESearching for the right job is stressful for most, but it can be overwhelming for people with disabilities. However, using an innovative approach, the student entrepreneurs created a customizable AI-powered \u0022job coach\u0022 that connects people with accessible employment opportunities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOMSCS students \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/george-gomez5829\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge Gomez\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ariel-magyar\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAriel Magyar\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/zachpatrignani\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZachary Patrignani\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/maheersayeed\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaheer Sayeed\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E created Interstellar Jobs as their entry for the March 2025 Microsoft Azure Innovation Challenge. The team beat over 70 international entries to secure first place and $10,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterstellar Jobs uses information about job seekers\u0027 disabilities, job preferences, and other personal details to provide detailed coaching tips for specific jobs. The tips let job seekers know if they\u0027re a good fit for the position, what challenges they can expect, and what they can do to manage these challenges successfully.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge, co-sponsored by TechBridge, required teams to create a functional proof of concept within a tight timeframe using AI, analytics, networking, and other Microsoft Azure Web Services.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESelecting which services to use was the starting point for most teams. In fact, Sayeed says most of the competition tried to use as many Azure services as possible for their projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We didn\u0027t do that. We kept it simple,\u0022 said Sayeed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our mindset going into the challenge was that we\u0027d find the problem first, and then we would look at the services we would use.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir entrepreneurial approach led the team to develop \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/github.com\/zachpatrignani\/microsoft-hackathon\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInterstellar Jobs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E using just three Azure services. As an example of their approach, the team faced the challenge of addressing specific disabilities in relation to thousands of job listings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopers usually depend on drop-down menus when presenting an extensive list of options. However, this method might not cover all disabilities or could use outdated or overly broad language. It also wouldn\u0027t account for people with multiple or nuanced disabilities that don\u0027t fit neatly into a single category.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Interstellar Jobs team opted for a blank field for users to list their disabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We kept it very open-ended for our users,\u0022 said Sayeed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team used OpenAI Service to \u0027clean\u0027 entries on the backend, regardless of what users wrote in the blank field. This method ensures that users can always get a structured and actionable response from Interstellar Jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a user, not having to pick from a drop-down menu just feels good,\u0022 said \u003Cstrong\u003EMatt\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003ECalder\u003C\/strong\u003E, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECalder hosts Microsoft DevRadio and recently \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/86wOpzJylzE?feature=shared\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Einterviewed the \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInterstellar Jobs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E team\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0022I like how your approach changes how people interact with the whole system. If you make something really usable, it\u0027s going to be accessible as well,\u0022 said Calder.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite its success, the team has no immediate plans to expand Interstellar Jobs. Each member balances a full-time job and their studies in Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/omscs.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOnline Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We gained so much about cloud development and Azure Web Services from the experience,\u0022 said Sayeed. \u0022We also learned the value of AI in these applications.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team of OMSCS students took an entrepreneurial approach to develop an AI-powered app that coaches people with disabilities during their job search. The app, Interstellar Jobs, earned the team first place and $10,000 in a recent Microsoft Azure Web Services challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A student team has \u0022learned the value of AI\u0022 by creating a job coaching app for people with disabilities."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2025-06-27 13:11:36","changed_gmt":"2025-06-27 13:21:14","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677302":{"id":"677302","type":"image","title":"A woman using a wheelchair and wearing a grey business suit meets with work colleagues.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAn Adobe Stock image of a woman using a wheelchair and wearing a grey business suit meets with work colleagues.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1751030248","gmt_created":"2025-06-27 13:17:28","changed":"1751030248","gmt_changed":"2025-06-27 13:17:28","alt":"A woman using a wheelchair and wearing a grey business suit meets with work colleagues.","file":{"fid":"261187","name":"AdobeStock_555264884.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/27\/AdobeStock_555264884.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/27\/AdobeStock_555264884.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":129878,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/06\/27\/AdobeStock_555264884.jpeg?itok=PZmiHvHg"}},"677303":{"id":"677303","type":"image","title":"The team discusses its AI-powered job coach, Interstellar Jobs, with Microsoft DevRadio","body":null,"created":"1751030402","gmt_created":"2025-06-27 13:20:02","changed":"1751030402","gmt_changed":"2025-06-27 13:20:02","alt":"The team discusses its AI-powered job coach, Interstellar Jobs, with Microsoft DevRadio.","file":{"fid":"261188","name":"Screenshot-2025-06-26-at-2.18.00-PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/27\/Screenshot-2025-06-26-at-2.18.00-PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/06\/27\/Screenshot-2025-06-26-at-2.18.00-PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":180044,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/06\/27\/Screenshot-2025-06-26-at-2.18.00-PM.png?itok=X5LqfbCb"}}},"media_ids":["677302","677303"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"193158","name":"Student Competition Winners (academic, innovation, and research)"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"181991","name":"Georgia Tech News Center"},{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBen Snedeker, Communications Manager II\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}