Meet Jimmy Campbell, a BC senior from Sunapee, New Hampshire. A true outdoor sports enthusiast, Jimmy is on the BC skiing team and loves wakesurfing and scuba diving; but his interests expand far beyond those of his life outdoors. Jimmy also runs a website called Broverstock.us and created his own app, Campus Calories. Campus Calories is a great way for us collegiettes to stay on track at BC the healthy way. We asked Jimmy some questions about the app and himself; and here’s what he had to say:
Name: Jimmy Campbell
Class : Senior
Major: Environmental Science
Minor: Economics
Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? What are your interests/hobbies?
I’m from Sunapee, NH. I’m on the skiing team at BC and love doing outdoor things. My hobbies include skiing, wakesurfing, scuba diving, GoProing anything, hanging 10, hanging with the bros, and counting my calories, of course. I enjoy working on projects like Campus Calories and run a website called Broverstock.us.
Tell us a little about your app, Campus Calories
Campus Calories lets you find the nutritional information for any food or drink in BC’s dining halls. The app features a counter so you can track your daily intake of calories, sodium, total fat, protein, cholesterol, sugars, and fiber. Also, you can browse BC’s dining halls and check out different offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
How did you come up with the idea for the app?
I looked up the nutritional information for some of my favorite foods and was shocked at what I found. All of BC’s nutritional info is online, but hard to get to. I thought an app would be a great way to make the information instantly accessible and a calorie counter would be a great use of that info.
Why exactly did you want to make an app like this?
I wanted to make the nutritional info of BC’s food easier to access. After four years of eating at BC, I know that college dining menus do not change very much. As a result, students end up eating the same things day after day. I think students should know what they’re eating. I asked around BC to see if people would like an app like Campus Calories. I got a resounding yes and started working on the app.
When did you start working on it?
I started working on Campus Calories this fall.
What exactly goes into creating an app like this?
I had the idea but no experience in creating apps. I downloaded Apple’s app developer programs and designed the app. I showed my designs to a developer who started creating the app. I collected and organized the nutritional info of BC’s food and drink options from their website. After six versions of the app and a few months, I finally liked the design. Campus Calories hit the app store mid January 2013 and has already had a few thousand downloads.
What kind of career are you looking to pursue after BC? Do you think it will be health/fitness related?
I am very interested in the great tech and entrepreneurial scene in Boston. I’m applying to jobs in that field. Also, I’m entering Campus Calories in Boston College’s Venture Competition and hope that I can continue to work on the app after I graduate BC.
What are your plans for Campus Calories in terms of opening it up to other schools?
I am currently working on expanding Campus Calories to other Boston schools. Hopefully we can add a few by the end of the month!
Can we look for any new apps or projects from you anytime soon?
Campus Calories and Broverstock.us take up a lot of my time now. I’m working on expanding Campus Calories to the Android market as well as other campuses. I probably won’t take on any more projects but be sure to check those two out!