John Riccione, a senior in Purdue’s School of Mechanical Engineering, has created a smartphone application called Classmate that allows university students to meet, discuss and schedule study sessions. The app allows students to set up a profile, add their classes and then enter a group chat of their peers.

Classmate LLC, founded by John Riccione, a senior in Purdue’s School of Mechanical Engineering, created a smartphone application allowing university students to meet, discuss and schedule study sessions.

“Whether a student is an introvert or extremely outgoing, this technology makes it easier to build strong connections with other people in the same classes,” Riccione said. “There’s all kinds of research to show that more connections means more learning and that means more success as a student during and after college.”

The free Classmate application, available on both Apple and Android smartphones, allows students to set up a profile, add their classes and then enter a group chat of their peers. The virtual communication environment does not require students to have each other’s contact information to chat and set up study sessions.

“The biggest and most accessible resource for students outside the classroom is their peers,” Riccione said. “The Classmate application is much easier and more engaging to use than other apps that try to help student communication. As a Boilermaker, I have a passion for helping people improve their lives through education and building connections.”

Classmate Beta tested the application with a lecture-sized course at Purdue during spring semester. It has now debuted campus-wide for the fall semester.

Riccione wants to expand Classmate to more universities. To accomplish this goal, Riccione is seeking mobile developers for assistance.

Classmate received commercialization guidance from the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship accelerator in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Purdue's Discovery Park. He has attended both Firestarter, a program to guide entrepreneurs through the “ideation” and startup development process, and Introduction to Customer Discovery workshops for information on entrepreneurship.

Source: Purdue News Room