IRVING, Texas (Dec. 13, 2024) — Last month, two teams of UDallas students took first and second place at the first DFW AI Agent Hackathon event beating out a total of 17 entries including students from UTD and UNT. The event was sponsored by a consortium of AI companies including Intelligage. 

At the event, Bryan Plaster, Intelligage co-founder and CEO, and the jury of panelists lauded the applicability and creativity of our students' entries.

The first place prize went to Maria Gutierrez, an MS Business Analytics ‘25 graduate student. Her AI agent, named PediMinds, is a specialized AI agent designed to support pediatric mental health.

“The inspiration for designing [PediMinds] came from my sister, who is a pediatrician, and my mental health journey,” Gutierrez explained. “I wanted to create a tool that could help screen young children for depression using the PHQ-9 questionnaire, as I believe early intervention is crucial for mental health. Addressing these challenges early can have a transformative impact on a child’s well-being and future development.”

Second place went to a group of current undergraduate Computer Science students, Ryan Rearden BS '26, Brandon Saguil BS ‘26, Clement-Andi Edet BS ‘25, and Kenneth Eze BS ‘25. They designed an AI travel agent that, with a simple conversation, provides a flight schedule, and recommend things to do in the area chosen.

“After experiencing extensive travel for school hackathons and our semester abroad in Rome, we recognized the need for a smarter travel planning solution” Saguil shared. “Our AI agent helps users discover their ideal destinations through natural conversation and assists with finding suitable flights, streamlining what can often be an overwhelming process.”

“We felt that it was important to choose something we would be motivated to use ourselves. All of us on the team travel and know how tedious the planning can be,” Rearden explained further.

The UDallas students worked hard to build their agents, attending practice sessions every Thursday evening and having several online sessions with Plaster.

“We utilized many APIs and worked with new languages, such as React, HTML, and JavaScript. We exposed ourselves to many different APIs and frameworks that expanded our knowledge about programming and AI,” Eze shared.

“Rather than building our agent around what we knew, we built it around what we wanted it to be. Facing those challenges head-on really helped us grow,” Rearden added.

From their success and participation, the UDallas students had a lot to say about the lessons they learned from the experience.

“This project taught me invaluable lessons about full-stack development and team collaboration. Each team member owned a specific component of the application, and we learned how to effectively integrate these different pieces into a cohesive product​​​​​​​​​,​” Saguil said.

When asked what she would take from this experience, Gutierrez shared, “Throughout the process, I learned the importance of balancing technical accuracy with empathy when designing AI systems for healthcare. It showed me that AI can be both powerful and compassionate. I also realized that, regardless of our specialization, there is always room to learn and contribute meaningfully to create a better world. My mentor, Dr. Murimi, was instrumental in guiding me to simplify complex concepts and embrace new perspectives, ultimately making the project more impactful and effective.”

The UDallas College of Business recently announced its new program, the Master of Science (MS) in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, launching in Fall, 2025. Applications for this new program are open.

About the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business

The Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas has been a pioneer of graduate business education for more than 50 years. Located in Irving, Texas, the college was the first in Texas to offer an AACSB-accredited Doctor of Business Administration. Today, the college offers flexible Master of Business Administration, Master of Science, Master of Leadership, and professional education programs ideal for early to mid-career professionals seeking to advance their careers under the guidance of faculty who are both scholars and accomplished business leaders. SB Hall, which opened in January 2016, houses the college, providing students with state-of-the-art technology and practical tools to prepare them for their future career. For more information, visit udallas.edu/cob.

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas strives to be the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the country, known for its rigorous undergraduate Core Curriculum and robust graduate and professional programs in business, ministry, education and the humanities. According to national rankings, the University of Dallas has one of America’s most challenging, comprehensive undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, offered at an excellent value to some of the happiest students in the country. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UDallas stands apart as a thriving community of learners committed to an education that forms students intellectually, socially and spiritually for a life well-lived. For more information, visit udallas.edu.