{"id":153169,"date":"2026-05-27T09:30:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=153169"},"modified":"2026-05-27T10:20:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:20:26","slug":"ucf-computer-science-students-expand-technology-supporting-military-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-computer-science-students-expand-technology-supporting-military-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Computer Science Students Expand Technology Supporting Military Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Five years after UCF computer science students first helped the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) build a tech solution to enhance efficiency, Knights are still improving the platform \u2014 and the impact keeps growing.<\/p>\n

Reserve Mercury, a mobile and web application designed to replace slow, paper-based administrative processes used by Army Reserve units, is now being used by thousands of reservists nationwide. What started as Project Mercury \u2014 a student-led effort to replace paper forms \u2014 has evolved into a long-running collaboration between student developers in UCF\u2019s Senior Seminar Course<\/em>, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the USAR.<\/p>\n

Originally launched in 2023, the app digitized the Army Reserve\u2019s DA 1380 submission process<\/a> \u2014 a manual workflow that once required soldiers to print forms, physically route paperwork through chains of command and wait for approvals tied to compensation and service records.<\/p>\n

Now, soldiers can digitally submit pay, absence and medical forms within the platform from any device. Leaders can then review and approve submissions instantly, helping reduce delays and ensure soldiers are paid on time.<\/p>\n

But the momentum behind Project Mercury didn’t end at launch.<\/p>\n

Each semester, new student teams continue building on the work of those before them \u2014 refining features, fixing issues and expanding the platform based on direct user feedback from soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs technology continues to advance, it\u2019s important that critical systems like those used by the Army Reserve evolve as well,\u201d says Shaun Gorllapati ’26<\/strong>, functional test and continuous improvement lead on the Fall 2025\u2013Spring 2026 Senior Design II team. \u201cProjects like this help bridge that gap by introducing more efficient, scalable and modern solutions that improve overall operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inheriting a Mission Already in Motion<\/h2>\n

Under the guidance of Associate Lecturers Matthew Gerber and Richard Leinecker in UCF\u2019s College of Engineering and Computer Science<\/a>, Project Mercury has become one of the university\u2019s most ambitious long-term software projects since its inception in 2021.<\/p>\n

Senior Design<\/em> students work alongside Army Reserve subject matter experts led by Reserve Mercury Program Manager Lt. Col. Jonathan LacKamp while gaining experience in large-scale software engineering, testing and deployment management.<\/p>\n