Mentory

One tap. Perfect tutor. Every time.

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Inspiration

The idea for Mentory came directly from conversations with fellow UMBC students and from our own experiences. We've all experienced the frustration of being stuck on an assignment, with no one to turn to for guidance. This sparked an idea: what if there were a way to instantly talk with someone who has already mastered this material? There are already manual methods of finding a tutor, but these are cumbersome, hard, and not efficient in deadline-based situations where you need a tutor instantly.

What it does

Mentory is an on-demand tutoring platform: think Uber for tutoring. We were inspired by how hard it could be for students to find quick, reliable academic help when they needed it most. With Mentory, students can instantly connect with tutors who are best suited for their course, schedule, and learning style, powered by AI.

How we built it

Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui for a clean, modern interface, including light/dark mode support Backend: Node.js Database: Supabase for real-time data and authentication Email System: Automated email notifications to confirm tutor matches and keep students updated via a custom-built email server AI Matching: Built an OpenAI agent that analyzes course data, grades, and user preferences to recommend the best tutors. Design: Figma for wireframing/design, with direct conversion into TypeScript + Tailwind React components for the web page.

We designed Mentory to be scalable, so the system could eventually integrate with other university course catalogs aside from UMBC, or even existing LMS platforms.

Challenges we ran into

Time pressure: Building both the matching logic and a polished frontend in 24 hours was a huge challenge. Although we constantly had new ideas for more features, we realized we had to strip our idea down to its simplest and most essential features to get out the most impactful version of our product within 24 hours.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

End-to-end working prototype: In a mere 24 hours, we went from Figma sketches into frontend UI into backend + AI integration, proving the idea is not just possible, but practical. We collaborated effectively as a team to divide up tasks and get the most done during this 24-hour hackathon

What we learned

How to rapidly prototype a full-stack application under hackathon time pressure. How to work with others to bring out the best in each other with regard to our respective skill sets How to go from idea to product at a rapid pace How to work in a fast-paced environment

What's next for Mentory

Next for Mentory is expanding our AI-powered matching to real-time availability, adding Stripe integration for tutors to provide an incentive for them to tutor, and scaling into a fully deployable platform for students around the globe.

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