University of Advancing Technology's Official Technology Blog

For Hope Thoms, the Student Innovation Project (SIP) was a chance to create change for women in STEM as well as an opportunity to honor the memory of a beloved family member.

Originally from Ridgecrest, California, Game Design major Hope has journeyed far—both geographically and intellectually—to complete her SIP. The inspiration for creating FemInspire, a social media app designed to connect girls and young women with female mentors, can be traced back to a seed of an idea planted in her childhood.

Hope enjoyed playing sports as a child and loved participating in hands-on, scientific endeavors. However, she felt that her interests made it difficult to connect with other girls and notes that she mostly had male friends growing up as a result.

“It’s definitely something that inspired me to create an application like this because mentorship is important,” Hope said. “But so is community.”

Hope was also motivated to create FemInspire in memory of her late aunt, who worked in information technology. After surviving a battle with breast cancer, Hope’s aunt passed away a year later, due to complications caused by stress. Knowing her aunt dealt with harassment at her workplace and was isolated as a woman in STEM, Hope feels even more determined to prove the importance of and foster female connection in male-dominated spaces. Further, she feels that supporting women in these fields will create better applications, products, and experiences across the field of technology. Particularly, Hope highlights the need for more women working in the video game industry.

“Diversity makes great games,” Hope asserted. “I'm making FemInspire because women want that diversity, because women want to hear women’s voices. There’s an imbalance that I want to help resolve, because it shouldn't exist—but it does even now, in 2024. It's still there, it’s still a problem. And it's probably going to be a problem for a very long time.”

Hope had to learn a number of new skills and programs in order to create her FemInspire prototype. She designed the mobile app’s interface using Figma, and took great care with choosing the color scheme and look of the app. She chose blue and purple as the color scheme, wanting to avoid passé pink. And despite not having an art background, Hope pushed herself to design and refine FemInspire’s logo until she was satisfied.

Hope also consulted with a number of UAT faculty and students in the completion of her SIP. While she feels grateful for the practical lessons gained within the classroom, Hope ultimately feels that the most important lesson she learned in her college experience was the need for resilience.

“I'm a very driven person,” Hope explained. “If I need to do something, I will just do my best to accomplish it. I’ve developed a kind of ‘iron it out as I go’ philosophy. Every single UAT class I've taken has been fast-paced, and with life and work, it's hard to balance. But at the end, I have to figure it out. Whether the solution is talking to a professor, or conducting some research, every single class here has taught me the need to be a problem solver.”

Looking to the future, Hope is invoking her namesake and feeling optimistic about her life and career prospects after graduating later this summer. She plans to stay in the Phoenix area for some time, noting that the city has become an emerging technology hub. She’s considering relocating to the east coast, where most of her dream video game publishing and development companies are located. She’s also keeping an open mind for the stepping stones that could take her where she wants to land.

“I'm the kind of person who if I don't get to work my dream job immediately, that's okay with me,” Hope insisted. “Because I am very persistent and passionate.”

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