A team of Barry University students and members of the AI Center recently earned a spot in the final stage of the Cursor Hackathon, standing out among more than 300 builders who participated in the event.

Jhanille Smith, Nelson Santos, Britney Mapang, Michael Harwood and Milosz Mencel developed and live-demoed an AI agent focused on helping individuals navigate and access vital resources related to substance use disorders. The project brought together technical innovation and a human-centered approach to addressing an important social issue.

For Nelson Santos, the experience reinforced the value of collaboration and the opportunities AI can create for students across disciplines.

“This was the second Cursor hackathon I competed in alongside my fellow AI DX Lab cohort members. It reminded me of the power of collaboration and how artificial intelligence is leveling the playing field, allowing students from various disciplines to build tools with meaningful social impact. I look forward to future hackathons and am excited to see what we will build next as new tools continue to emerge.”

The team’s project centered on a simple but important question: How can technology help connect people who need support with the resources available to them?

Britney Mapang reflected on the team’s motivation for developing the AI agent.

“We wanted to explore how AI could help bridge the gap between someone needing help and actually being able to access it. Building a solution around such a meaningful social issue in such a short amount of time was challenging, but it also showed me how technology can be used to address real-world problems and create tools with the potential to make a difference. This experience reminded me why I’m so passionate about combining AI, strategy, and social impact. And on top of that ended up finalist out of 350 people. I’m very grateful and proud of us.”

Reaching the final stage placed the Barry team among the hackathon’s top-performing builders, highlighting the creativity, collaboration and technical skills they brought to the competition.

The team was supported by the AI Center at Barry University and the Digital Transformation (DX) Lab, where students have opportunities to explore emerging technologies and develop solutions to real-world challenges.

Watch a clip of the Cursor Hackathon here.