NEU Connect — CS 3200 Fall 2025 Team Project

NEU Connect is a mentorship and networking platform that connects current Northeastern students with alumni mentors. The system supports role-based functionality across four personas: Student, Alumni, System Administrator, and Data Analyst.

Check out the video demo here: https://youtu.be/Tv12KHTkoKo

Team members

• Alex Sun
• Brendan Keefe
• David Wu
• Jenyne Pham
• Zoheb Akhtar

Prerequisites

• Git
• Docker Desktop

Architecture

• Frontend: Streamlit
• Backend: Flask (REST)
• Database: MySQL
• Deployment: Docker Compose

Repository Structure

• ./app — Streamlit frontend
• ./api — Flask REST API
• ./database-files — SQL schema + mock data

User Personas

Student

• Browse/search alumni
• Send mentorship/connection requests
• Manage student profile

Alumni

• Review incoming requests
• Accept/reject connections
• Manage availability/profile

System Administrator

• Review and process applications
• Monitor and resolve reports
• View basic system health/metrics

Data Analyst

• View engagement summaries
• Analyze connection trends
• Review alumni/company analytics

Setup Instructions

Clone the repository

git clone <YOUR_REPO_URL> cd <YOUR_REPO_FOLDER>

Create your .env file

• copy api/.env.template
• rename to just .env
• open api/.env
• change MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD to your own password

Start all containers

docker compose up -d --build

Open the app

• open browser
• http://localhost:8501

Initialize Database

Re-running SQL after changes

docker compose down db -v docker compose up db -d