Imanol Galván
I'm studying Computer Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship at UTEP, graduating May 2029. Most of my time goes into AI and machine learning, and into building software through Lyra Solutions, a studio I started in El Paso. This year I also wrote a book, NOT YET, which just came out.
GPA
3.81 / 4.00
Scholarship
NSF S-STEM Scholar
Location
El Paso, Texas
Started this as STAR. It's an AI academic assistant: you tell it what you need in plain language and it turns that into lesson plans, task schedules, and opportunities worth looking at. I built it so students could stay on top of their own goals instead of juggling five different apps.
1st place ($1,000), Tacos & Tech-ila Audience Pitch Competition.
Visually impaired people in the El Paso/Juárez metro had no navigation tool built for them, not for this border, not in both languages. So we built one: a smart cane prototype on an Arduino R4 WiFi, paired with a web app. You say where you're going, in English or Spanish, and it guides you there with real-time GPS, AI voice input, and Google Maps routing.
1st place, BorderHack '26 — 32 teams, 70+ competitors, built in about 24 hours.
I started Black Box because I lived the problem: years doing theater and film, practicing alone, with no real way to know if I was getting better. It's a web app for actors to rehearse on their own, scene analysis, script practice, recorded performance review, plus a computer vision feature that tracks your face and pose live while you practice.
3rd place at Miner Tank and 3rd place at the P21 VMS Pitch Challenge. Now the flagship product under Lyra Solutions.