Computer science student creates mobile app for Lake McMurtry

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu

Want to visit Lake McMurtry but don’t know where to start? Oklahoma State University student Chrisantus Eze has an app for that.  

Eze, a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science, began working with the nonprofit Lake McMurtry Friends in spring 2022 to develop a mobile app to aid lake visitors. As of this month, it’s available for both Android and iOS devices. 

“Lake McMurtry Friends was very excited about the app because it had been their long dream to have a mobile app that offered features found on their website, plus the added features like the offline trail map,” Eze said. “When the lake announced the app on its social platforms, many users immediately downloaded it and shared their excitement about the app, saying that it was easy to use.” 

The idea for developing the app stemmed from an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) hackathon Eze participated in at OSU where participants were asked to build either an application to improve Stillwater residents’ lives or an application specifically for the lake.

“Since that was my first semester at OSU, I didn’t have many ideas of how to improve the lives of Stillwater residents,” Eze said. “So, I decided to build an application for the lake. Although, it was just a prototype, since it was a less than two-day hackathon.” 

After Eze won the hackathon, he continued to craft the app to include features like offline trail maps, kayak rental information, upcoming event lists, a lake history and a contact section for different areas of Lake McMurtry. With the lake 10 miles northwest of Stillwater, residents may enjoy looking through its amenities in the app prior to going, including rules, regulations and pricing.  

“Building an application or coding, in general, is like an art,” Eze said. “It gets complex because you worry not only about the engineering that goes into it, but also about the aesthetics and how users would perceive and use the app. I love that it is a mixture of both engineering, arts and psychology. To me, that is what makes it the most interesting.” 

The Lake McMurtry Friends app isn’t the first one Eze has developed, having worked as a software engineer before coming to OSU for his graduate degree. Creating this app while an OSU student, however, is one of the many Eze accomplishments that motivates others within the CS program. 

“It is exciting to see a CS student take the initiative to write an app that serves our community,” said Dr. Blayne Mayfield, interim head of the Department of Computer Science. “Chrisantus has provided a great example of using our knowledge and skills to serve others, for the benefit of all. By writing the app for Lake McMurtry, Chrisantus serves as an excellent role model for other students.” 

Story By: Bella Vu, CAS student intern | bella.vu@okstate.edu