Exchange Program Finder

Built at ConUHacks X (January 24–25, 2026).

Description

Exchange Program Finder helps engineering and computer science students explore Concordia-approved partner universities and compare course equivalencies for exchange planning. The app centralizes partner institutions, surfaces quick links to exchange pages, and provides course-matching search to reduce manual research.

Team

• Team name: 404 Team Not Found
• Team members: Levon Kadehjian
• Hackathon: ConUHacks X

Hackathon Context

This project was built during ConUHacks X. Development started after January 24, 2026 at 11:00 AM and was completed before January 25, 2026 at 11:00 AM, in compliance with the Rules of Hacking.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Vite, React Router
• Backend: Spring Boot (Java 21)
• Database: MongoDB
• HTTP Client: Axios

Demo

• Live demo: https://conuexchange.tech
• Video demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPYeGd4s4dc

Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (for the frontend)
• Java 21 and Maven (for the backend)
• MongoDB (local or hosted instance)

1) Clone the repo

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd exchange

2) Backend (Spring Boot)

cd backend
# optional: set MongoDB connection string in src/main/resources/application.properties
# spring.data.mongodb.uri=mongodb://localhost:27017/exchange
./mvnw spring-boot:run

The backend will start on http://localhost:8080 by default.

3) Frontend (Vite)

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

The frontend will start on http://localhost:5173 by default.

4) Local Demo Instructions

1. Start MongoDB and the backend.
2. Start the frontend.
3. Open http://localhost:5173 and use Find Courses to query the backend endpoints under /courses.

Note: The frontend is configured to use the deployed backend at https://api.conuexchange.tech, so it works without running the backend locally.

AI Usage

• AI tools used: GitHub Copilot in VSCode for code assistance and autocompletion.

Sponsor Challenges

• Vultr - Best Use of Vultr: Backend API hosted on Vultr cloud infrastructure at api.conuexchange.tech
• MongoDB - Best Use of MongoDB Atlas: Course equivalency data stored and queried using MongoDB Atlas
• .Tech - Best .Tech Domain Name: Live at conuexchange.tech