Campus Pulse: A Graduate Student’s Innovation for Understanding Student Well-Being
Mark Pulido, a graduate student in the Electrical Engineering Department, has developed an innovative WiFi-enabled device that allows students to instantly share how they feel.
Mark Pulido, a graduate student in the Electrical Engineering Department, has developed an innovative WiFi-enabled device that allows students to instantly share how they feel. He calls his creation the PulseBox, a compact mood-input station designed as part of his Networking and Network Management (EE 565) class project. With a simple push of a button, students can record their current mood, stress level, or general sentiment and immediately view the results.
“By collecting anonymous inputs from my classmates, I realized how powerful this could be,” Mark explains. “We can imagine deploying several of these devices across campus to better understand patterns in student stress, energy, and overall well-being.”
The data collected by the PulseBox is displayed online for the campus community to explore. The live dashboard, publicly available at Feedback dashboard, shows real-time responses submitted by students who interact with the device. The PulseBox will be temporarily installed on the second floor of the Salazar Hall Building, and we invite everyone to stop by and try it out!
Dr. Farid Farahmand, the project’s faculty advisor, views this as a strong example of the hands-on, community-focused innovation that defines the Engineering program. “This is yet another exciting campus-based project where our students use technology to directly support and improve the campus experience,” he shared.
With growing interest from students and faculty, Mark hopes the PulseBox will help spark new conversations about well-being, mental health support, and the role of engineering innovation in building a more connected and responsive campus environment.