HFC pre-engineering team named national Community College Innovation Challenge finalist

The National Science Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges has named HFC as one of 12 finalists in the national 2024 Community College Innovation Challenge. This year's project is an app to help users detect misinformation online.

Now in its eighth year, the CCIC seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial thinking among community college students by challenging them to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. It also enables students to discover and demonstrate their capacity to use STEM to make a difference in the world and to translate that knowledge into action.

"Congratulations to the 2024 CCIC finalists," said AACC President and CEO Dr. Walter G. Bumphus. "Once again, I am inspired by the incredible level of talent and creativity our community college students showcase through the CCIC. Along with our partners at the National Science Foundation, we know this program is a foundation for future scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers and are very proud to shine the spotlight on these talented future leaders."

"Stay Vigilant with Source Alert"

Each CCIC team consists of 2-4 students and a faculty mentor who guides the team. This year's HFC team comprises pre-engineering students Abeer Alhassan, Brendon Bonner, and Ronnie Rabah-Nasr. Their mentor is HFC Pre-Engineering Program Director Dr. Hassan Mohseni Nameghi. Their project is Stay Vigilant with Source Alert. This is an application that connects to internet search engines and word/image processing services to detect the source of information and display it to the user in real time. It can also raise public awareness about potential misinformation.

CCIC Finalists attend an Innovation Boot Camp in June and interact with entrepreneurs and experts in business planning, stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, and marketplace dynamics. The Boot Camp culminates in a Student Innovation Poster Session on Capitol Hill with STEM leaders and congressional stakeholders and a pitch presentation to determine the first, second, and third-place winning teams.

HFC is the only community college in Michigan participating in the CCIC. In the past 10 years, HFC has been among the top finalists in the CCIC six times, including 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2023. There was no CCIC competition in the 2019-20 academic year.

"Being on the top finalist teams of the CCIC for many years proves our commitment to student success and high-quality education," said Nameghi. "We are gifted with brilliant, hardworking students who take ideas further in order to help humanity."