A first-year University of Connecticut student has founded a new study app, MelodyMind, that converts a student’s notes into memorable songs.
“I wanted to turn my notes into something that I could listen to, and that’s kind of where it started,” said the app’s creator, Soham Shah, a second-semester accounting major.
Shah said the app, which is accessible through a web browser, prompts users to upload notes and automatically generates flashcards with corresponding music. Users may customize both the genre and the mood of the songs.
The main goal is to help students retain information in an engaging manner, Shah said.
“Studying and memorization was a lot more monotonous than I thought it should be, especially if you’re trying to learn something for the first time,” Shah said.
Shah, who began the project with two other associates last summer, said the app is meant to compete with incumbent software such as Quizlet, but without the same pricing limitations.
“My goal is to help as many people as possible retain information at as low of a cost as I can make it,” Shah said. “Obviously generating revenue would be great, but it is not a project I created for that purpose. I just wanted it to be something that students could use.”
Shah said he and his colleagues started promoting the app to their friends this past fall and began to further expand the program this semester. The app has around 270 users, some of who are from UConn, and some of who Shah assumes are from other universities.
“It’s mainly college students in terms of who I’m gearing the project towards right now,” Shah said.
Shah said he has been working alongside Stephen Stifano, a professor in the communications department, to implement the app into his introductory communications class. The goal is to determine if students are interested in using the program, Shah said.
In the future, Shah said he may seek university funding if he feels that he needs it, and he will continue to take advantage of the university’s entrepreneurial resources.
Shah is active on social media, and frequently posts short videos geared toward college students. In an Instagram post, Shah said his three professional interests are accounting and business, entrepreneurship and entertainment.
“Growing on social media is an active project of mine,” Shah said.
According to Shah’s LinkedIn profile, he is also working on an ongoing venture called the Neurofibromatosis Student Alliance. The project, which Shah said was inspired by his sister’s battle with neurofibromatosis, works to advocate for the rare disorder, aiming to increase public awareness.
“My ultimate goal is to continue to make an impact in my own community and the world through the tools I build and initiatives that I launch,” Shah wrote on his LinkedIn profile. “I am a strong believer in the notion that each of us has the potential and responsibility to leave the world a better place than what we found it in our own unique way, through the story we choose to tell.”
Additionally, Shah said he is currently working on other student learning programs, similar to MelodyMind.
“In the next five years, my hope is to grow into as many users as possible and hopefully people will just be benefitted by it,” Shah said.