RiverGuide: Mentorship Platform for University Students

RiverGuide is a mentorship platform that matches high-performing University of Louisville students with field-specific mentors. I served as lead product engineer, owning both the product direction and engineering execution from concept through first pilot.

The University of Louisville needed a structured way to connect students with mentors in their specific fields. The existing process was informal and inconsistent, with no system to manage matching, scheduling, or communication at scale.

I designed and built the full platform, including mentor discovery, matching, video calls, and in-app communication.

Students could search for mentors by expertise, view profiles, and request connections directly through the platform.

The messaging system kept all mentor-student communication in one place, with integrated video calling for sessions.

Built the version used to demonstrate traction and complete the first pilot

Won the VOGT Award based on the platform's impact and execution

Shipped as a PWA so students could access it on any device without app store friction

Delivered across product strategy, frontend, backend workflows, and video integration