BAPS (Become A Problem-Solver)

Club Description

Who Are We?BAPS (Become A Problem-Solver) is an initiative that applies systems thinking to advance the operations of service organizations at the University of Virginia. While we are led by systems engineering students, we are open to ALL majors, ALL years, and do NOT have an application process. How Does It Work? We network with different service organizations across Grounds to understand some of the problems that they face, then we take on those organizations as our clients for a semester (i.e., we have fall projects and spring projects). Interested BAPS members are split up into project teams, where they employ technical systems expertise to refine and improve the operations of their assigned client, to ultimately help them solve the problem they're facing. At the end of each semester, all the project teams present their solutions to their clients and the BAPS Executive Team. Former clients include Madison House, the Gordie Center, FoodAssist, SWAP UVA, the UVA Wheelchair Tennis Team, YellowRed, and Josie's Way. An example of a recent project conducted by one of our project teams was creating an automated tracking system for FoodAssist to help them see when their volunteers arrived and left their shifts throughout the week.Why Should You Join?Since we are a relatively new initiative (est. March 2024), we have a lot of open Exec Team positions. Also, you can add any projects that you participate in straight to your LinkedIn, resume, etc. Further, if you are interested in following the consulting track, BAPS is a great item to talk about in interviews, as we apply problem-solving skills to address real challenges for real clients. We have gotten feedback from previous members that BAPS was one of the main items their now employers were interested in on their consulting applications.Have Questions?Please visit our website bapsatuva.org for more details on our operations. If you know that you would like to join us or have immediate questions, please feel free to email us at bapscontact@virginia.edu.