The ISB community is constantly bombarded with new resources for information. Between Haiku, PowerSchool and the ISB website, the amount of information is overwhelming. However, for some there is an overload of information, where you cannot sort out what you actually need personally.
Enter Nico Ramirez-Icaza (11). He has developed an app that can help you organize your ISB self, called ISB ACE that aims to silence the noise and give you a one stop shop for ISB information.
What inspired you to make ISB ACE?
I was inspired to make ISB Ace by the fact that our school has multiple student portals that I felt could all be linked together into one convenient interface for students. I saw that this did not really exist so I made my own. It is also an opportunity to stand out to engineering colleges and what better way to do this then to design, build, test, troubleshoot, and distribute an application of my own.
How long was the process to make ISB ACE?
It took about 4-5 weeks.
What function does ISB ACE serve for the community?
The app serves two main purposes: it takes all of the previously fragmented information pertaining to students’ school lives and puts it into one, easy-to-access package. It also eases the “PowerSchool obsession” epidemic at our school. Instead of the student checking PowerSchool, the app sends them a push notification when their grades change.
Did anyone assist you with ISB ACE?
If you go into the help page of the app, you can find an about page within it that lists all the people that contributed and their roles. Even though I was the main “software engineer” and manager of the application, Riddh Bedi (11) and Charlie Han (11) both contributed to the help page mainly and helped me out throughout the development process by providing useful feedback. I should also mention the PowersSchool administrator Vinit Pathela, who implemented the necessary interfaces in the PowerSchool server to get the app to work efficiently.
What intrigued you? How did you come about beginning this process?
Learning to make apps is like learning a language; you are never truly finished. You can add words to your vocabulary but will probably never memorize every word in the language. Similarly I am still learning to make applications, but whatever I have learned is completely self-taught. The reason I learned to develop apps is because the programming truly forces you to think analytically and clearly. Additionally, since the world is so dependent on the applications and programs that run on people’s electronics, I figured that it would be wise to learn to make my own.
How many downloads does ISB ACE currently have?
About 70 from the Google Play store on android (the only platform so far).
Do you have any future apps in development?
Yes, the Software Development Club, which I am president of, is currently working on ISB Ace for Mac OSX and iOS to expand the accessibility range of the app. We are also working on the improved ISB HS Tech website.
Thanks to Nico for taking the time to talk to us, and for making a fast and efficient answer to ISB’s huge amounts of information.
Austin Gallagher
