MET Analytics Alum Engineers Parking Inefficiency Fix

As a student living in Boston, Amal Radhakrishnan (MET’19) knew how difficult it could be to find decent parking. The Master of Science in Computer Science with concentration in Data Analytics grad also knew that with the right enterprising spirit, a solution to the urban problem was only an innovation away.

Radhakrishnan founded Parkaze, a parking spot rental app that allows those who own private spaces to connect with commuters and visitors looking for a convenient destination for their car. What started as a project at the 2018 Boston Hacks hackathon, winning the BU Spark! Innovation Fellowship, is now nearly ready to launch for the public. Radhakrishnan and the Parkaze team recently advanced in an Innovate@BU competition from the RUN to the FLY phase, which awarded them a grant to expand their beta testing efforts. Radhakrishnan spoke with Innovate@BU about the ideas behind the app, his project’s process, and how his team was able to overcome challenges and build on their experience in the world of entrepreneurship.

“We launched our web platform in August 2019 and currently, we have 40 spots under management with 26 users,” he said. “When a group of diverse people comes together with passion and grit we can create amazing new experiences and build sustainable smarter cities of the future, the same goes for super hosts and renters in our platform.”