Computer Science Majors Bring AI Innovation to Local Vineyard

Guided by alumna and entrepreneur Neviana Zhgaba ’11, MS’13, three women majoring in computer science are harnessing AI to tackle real-world business challenges at Aquila’s Nest Vineyard in Newtown, Connecticut.

Akshay Mathur, PhD, assistant professor of computer science in the School of Engineering & Computing, is overseeing the undergraduates’ senior design project with Zhgaba, who owns Aquila’s Nest as well as Windy Hill Estate in New York.

For their project, the students—Brooke Kaplan ’27, Christina Collazzo ’26, and Tashfia Ahmed ’26—are developing a centralized event and vendor management portal with artificial intelligence planning capabilities. Designed to automate scheduling, streamline vendor communications, and forecast staffing and attendance, the platform has the potential to provide a scalable solution for agritourism and hospitality venues.

Zhgaba, who studied software engineering at Fairfield, said the partnership represents a meaningful return to her academic roots. “This [engineering] program helped shape my own career,” she noted, “and now I have the chance to share both my technical and entrepreneurial experience with the next generation of engineers.”

The senior design project is a culminating learning experience for undergraduates in Fairfield’s School of Engineering and Computing. Over the course of a year, teams collaborate with faculty and industry mentors to undertake advanced projects that simulate professional practice. Students conduct research, prepare technical proposals, build and test prototypes, and present their findings through reports and presentations.

“Engineering education benefits most when it includes applied, hands-on problem-solving,” Zhgaba said. “So far, working with the students has been inspiring. They are creative, detail-oriented, and eager to learn, and it’s rewarding to see their ideas evolve into tangible solutions that have direct application in a business setting.”

Giving Back Through Mentorship

Zhgaba spent more than a decade in Fortune 500 technology and finance information technology before becoming a full-time entrepreneur. She credits Fairfield with helping to shape her career and sees mentorship as a way to give back. “This is a full-circle moment for me,” she said. “I’ve always believed in bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications. This project not only addresses challenges we face managing hundreds of events each year, but also allows students to design a professional-grade system with future commercial potential.”

Aquila’s Nest Vineyard hosts hundreds of events annually, each involving vendors, logistics, staff, and a diverse group of guests. The complexity of managing these moving parts has only grown for Zhgaba, after the vineyard’s expansion into New York with the acquisition of Windy Hill Estate. She hopes the new system will simplify operations by integrating AI forecasting for demand and staffing needs.

“The students are not just coding a system for a grade,” Zhgaba said. “They are designing a system that solves real challenges while gaining the experience of building something ready for professional use.”

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