More often than not, Monmouth students arrive early to campus to secure a parking spot. However, much to their dismay and frustration, they are left circling the parking lot with no parking spot in sight.
Luckily, senior communications student, Gianna Piroso saw this problem and wanted to fix it. She invented the app, ParkShark, which according to Piroso, “[ParkShark] is an app for commuter college students that is aimed at making parking on college campuses a little less painful. The app is able to show students real-time lot availability, how full a specific lot is, and can send you campus alerts about any parking lot, special occasions, and closures.”
These concerns about parking are shared by many Monmouth students. In her communication courses, she took Amanda Stojanov’s, MFA, assistant professor of communication, User Experience & Interaction Design course. Piroso explained, “In this course, we were taught how to make wireframes and design potential apps as well as many other useful skills. When the class was tasked with coming up with an original app idea for our final, ParkShark was born.”
Piroso believes that her app will help the community and campus as a whole. She said, “I think that ParkShark will benefit commuter students just like me all over the world to feel a little more included on campus. Looking for parking for minutes on end before class can take the fun out of even coming to campus at all. With that being said, I think commuter students will heavily benefit from this app. Eventually, maybe it could even become the next EZ-Pass for parking in towns!”
Without the help of Monmouth’s Center for Entrepreneurship, the University, and Professor Stojanov’s course, all of this time, preparation, and development wouldn’t have happened. Piroso explained, “Both Monmouth University and the Monmouth Entrepreneurial Center have helped me tremendously in bringing my idea to life. Every professor and advisor involved has been nothing but supportive in teaching me the ins and outs when it comes to developing an app. They have made my experience here at Monmouth University far better than I could have ever imagined it being.”
She elaborated on her relationship with Professor Stojanov and where it all began, “Professor Amanda Stojanov has not only helped guide me with the creation of my app, but also from the beginning of my journey here at Monmouth University. Since my freshman year here, she has been both a big sister and my biggest cheerleader. She has encouraged me that no idea is too small and to go after what you want. Without her, I would have never even considered making this app become real or be a finalist in HawkTank.”
Piroso is also honored just to be a finalist for HawkTank, alluding to wanting to pursue her out-of-the-box ideas.
HawkTank is happening very soon! For more updates on the event, follow @monmouthentrepreneur on Instagram.
