Saint Mary’s University has an App for that

Two students in Saint Mary’s iPhone programming class have created an SMU Application (or ‘App’) for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Christopher Engesser and Stephanie Valentine have designed a new App that allows students, parents, alums and others easy access to SMU news and information.

The students, taught by Ann Smith, chair of the Computer Science Department, completed the project in April. The App (named iSMU) will be available for free iTunes download by early summer and includes the following features:

• Access to campus news and blogs
• Live sports updates
• Activities calendar
• Performance calendar and ticket information
• Daily Chartwells menu options
• Campus YouTube videos
• Donate to SMU opportunities

“Mobile devices like the iPhone give our students the opportunity to develop interesting, useful and educational applications that are accessed via their cell phones,” Smith said. “The beauty of this class is that students can build applications for their peers from the perspective of what is important to students. For example, all of my students loved the Chartwells menu feature — today’s dinner entrees accessible immediately with the touch of a button!”