BU Spark! Demo Day at the Experiential Learning Expo
Demo Day, December 11, 2025
RSVP on Eventbrite HERE
BU Spark! is an innovation and experiential learning lab for computing, data science, and engineering projects housed at the Boston University Faculty for Computing & Data Sciences. Spark! supports student innovation and engagement in applied research and real-world projects while fostering an inclusive and interdisciplinary community.
Spark! Demo Day is an opportunity for students participating in Spark! supported courses and programs to showcase their work to members of the BU community and with our partners from industry and civil society who engage with Spark! as project sponsors, instructors, and mentors.
Guests will have the opportunity to hear student presentations, visit project demo stations during breakout sessions, and vote on their favorite projects.
Courses
BU Spark! provides students with opportunities to engage in real-world computing and data science projects through courses where students can pursue their own projects or work on an external partner’s project. This semester, Demo Day will showcase the work from different Spark! programs. Learn more about our courses here.
- HUB XC475: Spark! Technology Innovation Fellowship Course
- HUB XC473: Spark! Justice Media co-Lab (JMCL)
- CDS DS488: Spark! UX Design X-Lab Practicum
- CDS DS519 / CAS CS519: Spark! Software Engineering X-Lab Practicum
- CDS DS539: Spark! Data Science Practicum
- CDS DS549 / CAS CS549: Spark! Machine Learning X-Lab Practicum
- CDS DS594: Spark! Data Visualization X-Lab Practicum
- CDS DS701: Tools for Data Science
- Spark! Internship
Schedule
All Spark! presentations will be held in person at Duan Family CCDS, 665 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA. On stage presentations (4:00-5:25) will be streamed live via Zoom (link to be added) starting at 3:55pm.
4:00-4:40 PM Spark! Innovation Program Presentations – Spark! Space, CDS 2nd floor & Virtual (link)
- Project information to be added
4:40-5:25 PM XLab Presentations – Spark! Space, CDS 2nd floor & Virtual (link)
- XC473 Justice Media co-Lab: Project: TBD
- DS488 – UX Practicum: Project TBD
- DS519 – SE Practicum: Project TBD
- DS539 – DS Practicum: Project TBD
- DS549 – ML Practicum: Project TBD
- DS594 – Data Visualization: Project TBD
- DS701- Tools for Data Science: Project TBD
5:30-5:55 PM Round 4 Posters – CDS 1st floor (in-person only)
Fall 2025 Spark! Demo Day Assignments.xlsx
| Board Number | Round | Time | Full Project Name | Course: Project (Board) |
| R | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | FItCheck | XC475 Innovation: FItCheck (Board R) |
| S | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Melanin Rx | XC475 Innovation: Melanin Rx (Board S) |
| T | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | GrantWareAI | XC475 Innovation: GrantWareAI (Board T) |
| U | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | SignAble | XC475 Innovation: SignAble (Board U) |
| V | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | WordWyrm | XC475 Innovation: WordWyrm (Board V) |
| W | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | GraceFul | XC475 Innovation: GraceFul (Board W) |
| N | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | MISI – Sewage and Algae Blooms | XC473 JMCL: MISI: Sewage & Algae (Board N) |
| O | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Granite State News Collaborative – NH Police Stops | XC473 JMCL: Granite State News: Police (Board O) |
| P | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Granite State News Collaborative – Domestic Violence in NH | XC473 JMCL: Granite State News: Violence (Board P) |
| Q | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | BU Newsroom: Police | XC473 JMCL: BU Newsroom: Police (Board Q) |
| A | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | BlackFacts | DS488/688 UX Design: BlackFacts (Board A) |
| B | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | BU Innovate: HeatWise Citizen Science | DS488/688 UX Design: HeatWise (Board B) |
| C | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | CDS: Website Redesign | DS488/688 UX Design: CDS Website Redesign (Board C) |
| E | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | UniteBoston : Boston Immigrant Resource Database | DS488/688 UX Design: UniteBoston (Board E) |
| F | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Farah Rexha: Symporter | DS488/688 UX Design: Symporter (Board F) |
| D | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH): Vaccine Equity | DS594 Data Vis: BCH: Vaccine Equity (Board D) |
| G | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Boston Climate Action Network (BCAN): BCAN | DS594 Data Vis: BCAN (Board G) |
| H | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Mass Housing Navigator: Data Common | DS594 Data Vis: MA Housing Navigator (Board H) |
| I | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | MAPC / Metropolitan Area Planning Council: Website Analytics | DS594 Data Vis: MAPC (Board I) |
| J | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Molly Richards: Doubled Up Homelessness | DS594 Data Vis: Doubled Up Homelessness (Board J) |
| K | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | Harvard Berkman Center’s Applied Social Media Lab: Transparency Hub | DS594 Data Vis: ASML: Transparency Hub (Board K) |
| L | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | LUCE: Data Viz | DS594 Data Vis: LUCE (data vis) (Board L) |
| M | 4 | 5:30-5:55 | BPI: Data Viz | DS594 Data Vis: BPI (data vis) (Board M) |
6:00-6:25 PM Round 5 Posters- CDS 1st floor (in-person only)
Fall 2025 Spark! Demo Day Assignments.xlsx
| Board Number | Round | Time | Full Project Name | Course: Project (Board) |
| A | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Senator Ed Markey’s Office : Federal Grant Cancellation Tracking Project (Team A ) | DS701 Tools for DS: Sen. Ed Markey (Team A) (Board A) |
| B | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Senator Ed Markey’s Office : Federal Grant Cancellation Tracking Project (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Sen. Ed Markey (Team B) (Board B) |
| C | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Act On Mass: House Roll Call Tracker (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Act on Mass (Team A) (Board C) |
| D | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Act On Mass: House Roll Call Tracker (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Act on Mass (Team B) (Board D) |
| H | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | WGBH Investigations: Medical Debt (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Medical Debt (Team A) (Board H) |
| I | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | WGBH Investigations: Medical Debt (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Medical Debt (Team B) (Board I) |
| J | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation: Harvard Allston Project (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Harvard Allston Project (Team A) (Board J) |
| K | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation : Harvard Allston Project (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Harvard Allston Project (Team B) (Board K) |
| L | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | BU CISS: Andrea Beltran Lizarazo: Colombian Extraditions to the US (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Columbian Extraditions (Team A) (Board L) |
| M | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | BU CISS: Andrea Beltran Lizarazo: Colombian Extraditions to the US (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Columbian Extraditions (Team B) (Board M) |
| N | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | CAIR: Media Coverage Analysis (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: CAIR Media Analysis (Team A) (Board N) |
| O | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | CAIR: Media Coverage Analysis (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: CAIR Media Analysis (Team B) (Board O) |
| P | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Campaign Zero: 911 Call Data Patterns (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: 911 Data Patterns (Team A) (Board P) |
| Q | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Campaign Zero: 911 Call Data Patterns (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: 911 Data Patterns (Team B) (Board Q) |
| R | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | MuckRock: Data Liberation Project (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: MuckRock (Team A) (Board R) |
| S | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | MuckRock: Data Liberation Project (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: MuckRock (Team B) (Board S) |
| T | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | CHAPA: Affordable Housing Applications (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Affordable Housing (Team A) (Board T) |
| U | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | CHAPA: Affordable Housing Applications (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Affordable Housing (Team B) (Board U) |
| V | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Massachusetts Voter Table: Language Predictor Analysis (Team A) | DS701 Tools for DS: Mass Voter Table (Team A) (Board V) |
| W | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Massachusetts Voter Table: Language Predictor Analysis (Team B) | DS701 Tools for DS: Mass Voter Table (Team B) (Board W) |
| E | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Open Justice Lab Project | DS539 Data Science: Open Justice Lab (Board E) |
| F | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Thurmond Amendment Project | DS539 Data Science: Thurmond Amendment (Board F) |
| G | 5 | 6:00-6:25 | Pardee: Warning System for Private Detention Capacity Project | DS539 Data Science: Warning for Private Detention (Board G) |
6:30-6:55 PM Round 6 Posters – CDS 1st floor (in-person only)
Fall 2025 Spark! Demo Day Assignments.xlsx
| Board Number | Round | Time | Full Project Name | Course: Project (Board) |
| E | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | City Councilor Benjamin Weber: Busing Project | DS539 Data Science: Councilor Weber: Busing (Board E) |
| F | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU Strategy & Innovation: Matching Higher Education Institutions | DS539 Data Science: Matching Higher Ed Institutions (Board F) |
| A | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Connect Humanity: Rio Grande Valley Broadband Project | DS539 Data Science: Connect Humanity (Board A) |
| B | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Progressive Mass: Home Rule Petition Project | DS539 Data Science: Home Rule Petition (Board B) |
| C | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Boston City Councilor Gigi Coletta Zapata District 1: Styrofoam Ban Project | DS539 Data Science: Councilor Zapata: Styrofoam Ban (Board C) |
| D | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | PITNE: Job Search Project | DS539 Data Science: PITNE: Job Search (Board D) |
| P | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Boston Public Library: Retrieval Augmented Generation | DS549 Machine Learning: Boston Public Library: RAG (Board P) |
| Q | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU MET College: Autograding Tool for Written Answers and Complex Assignments | DS549 Machine Learning: BU MET Autograding Tool (Board Q) |
| R | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | CISS Kathy Sem: Identifying Children’s “Stranger Danger” Behaviors | DS549 Machine Learning: “Stranger Danger” Behaviors (Board R) |
| S | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Women, Life, Freedom Collective “: Image Classification Pipeline | DS549 Machine Learning: Women, Life, Freedom Collective (Board S) |
| T | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Massachusetts Registry of Deeds: Registry Transcription | DS549 Machine Learning: MA Registry of Deeds (Board T) |
| U | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | CISS Native Ads | DS549 Machine Learning: Native Ads (Board U) |
| V | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Indigenous Architectural Reconstructions in Palestine | DS549 Machine Learning: Indigenous Architectural Reconstructions (Board V) |
| W | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU Center on Media Innovation for Social Impact : Public Safety and Community Sentiment | DS549 Machine Learning: MISI: Community Sentiment (Board W) |
| G | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BCS & Associates: Social Justice Mobile App | DS519 Software Engineering: Social Justice App (Board G) |
| H | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU Dining Services: Catering Leftovers | DS519 Software Engineering: BU Catering Leftovers (Board H) |
| I | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Dr. Vinoth Jagaroo: Computerized Mapping | DS519 Software Engineering: Computerized Mapping (Board I) |
| J | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU Initiative on Cities: Anti-Displacement Tool for City of Louisville | DS519 Software Engineering: Anti-Displacement Tool (Board J) |
| K | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Facial Recognition for Stolen Artifacts | DS519 Software Engineering: Stolen Artifacts (Board K) |
| L | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Barterloo : Mobile App Dev | DS519 Software Engineering: Barterloo (Board L) |
| M | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | BU Department of Chemistry: Micro Credentialing Project | DS519 Software Engineering: BU Chem: Micro Credentialing (Board M) |
| N | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | AdaptX: Unified5K | DS519 Software Engineering: AdaptX: Unified5K (Board N) |
| O | 6 | 6:30-6:55 | Chatbot Customization | DS519 Software Engineering: Chatbot Customization (Board O) |
7:00 PM Winners revealed – Audience Choice & Judge’s Innovation Choice – CDS 1st floor (in-person only)
Floor Plan
Floor plan w/ project details: to be added