During the summer of 2013, Organisers pageJISC presented an opportunity called the 'Summer of Student Innovation' to fund tech-based startup ideas that benefited the common social good. The selection was based on a public vote on submitted elevator pitch videos (here is ours).

Together with three university friends, we envisioned a mathematics learning website targeted at non-math university students who needed to grasp foundational computational math techniques. Our unique selling point was an error detection system for auto-generated questions, planned to be executed through Django, a Python web framework.

We brought our vision to life, creating a prototype website named "Mimir" (code) that had a basic content offering. The standout feature, our error detection system, functioned through a calculation graph. This graph delineated potential mistakes students might make at every calculation stage, such as sign errors or incorrect orderings. If a student answered incorrectly, our system would trace their error using the graph and offer specific feedback. Throughout this process, we documented our journey on a project blog and ultimately showcased our prototype at a final event in London.

While this was my first foray into comprehensive web development, the project's true value lay in the soft skills I acquired. Working with friends, especially with one member being remote and having different work habits, underscored the importance of effective communication and collaboration. Even though we didn't pursue the project further, it honed my abilities in project and time management (I was also working on my first research project that summer!), and it also taught me the crucial skill of determining priorities for an initial product release.