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Guide to the ALM Capstone Project

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Software Engineering Capstone

"I enjoy working with the students throughout the project, and seeing how they gain an appreciation of both the profession and their own skills.” — Peter Henstock, Faculty  
"My teaching approach is applying my industry experience, with a focus on upfront design, to deliver high-quality modular software in an agile environment. Students can use the learned skills and processes in their own work environments, to dramatically improve software quality..” — Eric Gieseke , Faculty

Capstone Snapshot

Most of the software projects you have developed throughout your academic career are likely individual projects. However, most industry projects are much larger and are consequently developed by teams.

The Software Engineeering Casptone, CSCI E-599 , course aims to fill this gap by developing and deploying a significant semester-long software engineering project with a team of no more than five people.  The project includes the requirements gathering, planning, designing, coding, testing, documentation, and release stages of the software development lifecycle.  Accompanying lectures aim to provide timely concepts from the software engineering body of knowledge as they relate to the course project. 

The course includes best practices, project management concepts, and introduces many of the current tools that assist software project teams.  The final projects are presented to a faculty panel at the end of the semester.  Most of the projects in recent years have been presented at conferences.

Course Sequencing

CSCI E-599 is offered in the spring semester as an online live web conference course. You ordinarily take the course as your final, one and only remaining degree requirement. At a minimum, you need to have completed at least 36 credits, including the Software Design requirement, to be eligible for capstone registration.

Eric Gieseke, ALM, Principal Software Engineer, Algorand Peter Vaughan Henstock, PhD, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Lead, Pfizer, Inc.

  • CSCI E-599 Past Capstone Titles and Examples

capstone project software engineering

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Coding Bootcamp Final Project Ideas

Coding bootcamps offer short-term, intensive programs that focus heavily on skills building. Some are geared toward experienced programmers while others are beginner-friendly. Regardless of your level, they generally culminate in a capstone project. The purpose of a bootcamp project is to have students utilize everything they learned during the program. 

Many graduates found that coding bootcamps are worth their time because they acquire a wide range of technical skills at a more affordable price than the traditional education path. Some noted that coding bootcamp projects are especially helpful in demonstrating their coding skills. This, in turn, boosts their resumes and increases their chances of landing exciting tech jobs.

Find your bootcamp match

This article highlights several coding bootcamp final project ideas that are suitable for those looking to explore a career in web development, software engineering, UX/UI design, data science, and cyber security. We also include some tips that can help you get noticed in the competitive technology job market.

What Is a Bootcamp Project?

A bootcamp project is an instrumental part of a bootcamp experience. It is an activity that requires students to be hands-on in coming up with solutions. Depending on your coding bootcamp, specialization, and experience, you may be required to complete more than one bootcamp project throughout the duration of your study. 

Bootcamp projects stand at the heart of project-based learning. This approach requires you to acquire the knowledge and skills that correspond to your career choice through the act of doing. 

This is the exact opposite of theory-based pedagogy that is normally found in traditional classrooms, where priority is given to high-level theoretical concepts. 

What Is a Coding Bootcamp Final Project?

Coding bootcamp final projects typically take place at the end of a program. In other words, they act as a completion marker. They test students’ proficiency and programming skills through a series of relevant tasks. Coding bootcamp projects are especially popular in the programming and data science communities.

The best coding bootcamp projects encourage students to test their knowledge and skills by completing objectives of varying difficulty levels. Aside from the technical aspects, bootcamp projects also introduce students to a working environment that mimics real-world scenarios. This helps students develop mastery of crucial soft skills . 

The complexity of final projects depends on several factors including your skill level and the subject matter. For example, if you are a data science student, you might be asked to use data analytics strategies to solve a common business problem . Read on further to see our full list of coding bootcamp final project ideas for students from all backgrounds. 

Benefits of Coding Bootcamp Final Projects

As mentioned, there are a lot of interesting coding bootcamp capstone project ideas that you can explore as a student. Before making a decision, you should learn about the advantages of partaking in coding bootcamp capstone projects. The number one benefit of final projects is that they fully prepare you to take on tech jobs. 

Beyond getting familiar with niche skills needed in your career path, working on projects also allows you to improve your problem-solving abilities. For example, you might know how to build a machine learning model but building one in the context of a complete data science pipeline might be out of your wheelhouse. It’s the ability to adapt and use your skills creatively that’s more valuable to modern employers.

Additionally, projects are almost always done with other people. This teaches you how to work in groups, how to use version control systems like Github, and how to communicate effectively. You can expect to come out of your bootcamp experience with well-rounded skills, fit for any tech companies you are interested in.

Web Development Project Ideas for Bootcamp Students

capstone project software engineering

Web developers are in charge of building websites that help seal a company’s presence online and expand its reach. With this in mind, bootcamp students can use this opportunity to take on a project that showcases their ability to create a highly functional, responsive, and dynamic website. If you’re looking for a web development project idea, look no further than our web dev bootcamp project examples below.

Types of Web Development Portfolio Projects

There are a few projects that aspiring web developers can explore, depending on their area of concentration. Front end web development , for example, is user-facing. As such, some front end web developer portfolio projects may involve building responsive web pages or making sure application interfaces are intuitive enough for non-technical people to use. You will likely use tools like JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, and HTML. 

In contrast, backend web development concentrates on the technologies that power the Internet ‘under-the-hood’. Some backend projects for a portfolio may involve server-side scripting and database management. You can expect to achieve these by using technologies like MongoDB, Java, .NET, and Node.js. 

As full stack development requires proficiency in both areas, your full stack web developer portfolio projects should reflect your abilities to build dynamic web pages, tackle server-side coding, and monitor database management. Regardless of your choice, any of the projects mentioned above make great additions to your web dev bootcamp portfolio .

Web Development Final Project Ideas

Web development is a thriving field, with a projected 23 percent increase in growth within the next decade. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also predicts an average of 21,800 relevant openings in the field every year between 2021 to 2031. If you want to break into this job market, here are some ideas for your web developer bootcamp final projects: 

  • Build an application like Quora . This app should have user authorization and authentication and walk through the complete Create, Read, Update, Destroy (CRUD) cycle. 
  • Build a chat app. Demonstrate your handle on the intricacies of web socket development by building a chat application. If you’re feeling extra bold, combine this with a little natural-language processing in the form of chatbots that answer questions from users. 
  • Make a clone of a top social media site . While your developer bootcamp student project may not be as big or as streamlined as big social media sites, even modest success allows you to show that you can handle working with databases, server-side scripting, front end frameworks, security protocols, and the rest of the full stack. 
  • Make an SEO-optimized website . Build one from the ground up with a popular framework like Ruby on Rails. There is no shortage of jobs for people who can do this kind of work. 
  • Get into game development . Game programming is different from web development, but you can make some really sophisticated games with HTML5 while still working through many of the basic requirements of a web development project. 

Software Engineering Project Ideas for Bootcamp Students

capstone project software engineering

Software engineers are responsible for programming an app for a brand or a company. Depending on the platform that you’re building for, you require knowledge of popular programming languages such as Java, Swift, or C++. You can explore a lot of interesting software projects at a bootcamp. Below, we discuss software engineering project ideas in detail.

Types of Software Engineering Portfolio Projects

Software engineering, sometimes known as software development, is a broad field that can open up the pathway to various exciting tech jobs. As a discipline, it encompasses other tech areas including mobile app development, UX/UI design, and web development. Most software engineers work in teams so you must let your communication skills shine in your portfolio project.

Some software engineer portfolio projects may involve building a mobile application from the ground up. You will likely use Java for Android and Swift for iOS apps. On the other hand, if you are building software for computers, you may be required to be proficient in C++ or HTML5. Ultimately, knowledge of popular programming languages for software development is key for success. 

Software Engineering Final Project Ideas

Software engineering is a discipline that undergirds a lot of the modern world. As such, it comes as no surprise that careers in the software engineering field are expected to grow by 25 percent within the next decade. Find your way into it with one of these software engineering capstone project ideas: 

  • Make a web scraper . There’s so much content on the Internet you couldn’t hope to see even a large fraction of it if you did nothing but surf web pages every day. With web scrapers, you can create tools for grabbing the content you want. These data extraction tools are spectacularly useful. 
  • Create a barebones operating system . Operating systems are the brains of computers, responsible for managing resources, queuing instructions, interacting with hardware components, and myriad other tasks. Making one is a seriously impressive software engineering feat and is guaranteed to impress potential employers. 
  • Build a deal-notification system . The Internet allows access to unbeatable deals on goods, services, and entertainment. Make an application that takes the items you want and tracks their prices on major exchanges, sending you text notifications when they’re now within your means. 
  • Program a decent chess engine . This is arguably more of an algorithm-design project, but software engineers have been tinkering with chess engines for a long time, and if you can build a good one, you’re not likely to find many things out of your reach when you get a job. 
  • Dive into robotics . Combine your love for tech and horticulture by creating a plant-watering robot. For extra credit, see if you can make the watering apparatus operable via mobile devices. 

UX/UI Project Ideas for Bootcamp Students

capstone project software engineering

UX/UI designers are in charge of making sure an app or a website is accessible, interactive, functional, and more importantly, enjoyable to use. If a customer enjoys browsing through a website, they will remain online longer which can lead to higher conversion rates. Take a closer look at UX/UI project ideas that can help you prepare for the tech jobs of your dreams.

Types of UX/UI Portfolio Projects

UX/UI design is an interesting field that combines the technical aspect of digital interaction with human psychology. To enhance your UI design portfolio, you can showcase your skills through careful selections of typography, icons, buttons, themes, color palettes, and more. Keep in mind that a good UI design feels intuitive and responsive. 

If you are looking to build a UX portfolio for bootcamp students, it would be best to focus on the expectations of a site user. You should be able to showcase your ability to identify a company’s target market, think like them, and anticipate their reactions. You know your UX design bootcamp portfolio is good when you can provide a positive overall feel that extends beyond aesthetics. 

UX/UI Final Project Ideas

A good UX/UI design can boost company revenues, simply by providing a pleasant experience to site users. That is why companies seek skilled UX/UI designers. Jobs in the field are expected to grow by 23 percent within the next decade. Show what you’ve got with these UX capstone project ideas:

  • Create a stock theme for WordPress . WordPress is unarguably the most popular content management system available today, and there’s a pretty big market for developers able to work on the platform. Building an attractive, intuitive theme for WordPress is a great way to start. 
  • Create a UX/UI profile for a make-believe company . Imagine a fictional startup and create a splash page, landing page, and pricing options page for it. 
  • Work out an original scheme for classic icons . Take the all-too-familiar icons on your computer and give them a new makeover. Customize your own visual representation of basic computer functions.
  • Perform a UX/UI overhaul. The world is filled with high-quality content wrapped in layers of interfaces and presentations. Find a couple of websites, newsletters, or applications that fit into this category and give them a UX design overhaul. 
  • Design your own font. The process of font design can be intricate, as it occasionally gives rise to fascinating projects like Sans Forgetica . See if you can build a font that’s ideally suited to a certain kind of reading or thinking. 

Data Science Project Ideas for Bootcamp Students

capstone project software engineering

Data scientists are in charge of all things data-related. As more businesses form their action plans using valuable data, data scientists emerge as modern-day heroes who help put meaning into countless pieces of information. If you want to know how to boost your chances of getting into the field, look at some data science bootcamp project examples in the sections below. 

Types of Data Science Portfolio Projects

Data science is a broad field. It is often divided into four major specializations: data visualization, data analytics, data engineering, and data strategy. As a part of your data science portfolio projects, consider exploring any of the data disciplines to see which area you’d like to explore professionally.

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Regardless of your choice, most data science roles require at least some knowledge of Python. So it might be best to demonstrate how well you can use Python in the context of data science in your portfolio project. Other popular data science tools that are recommended include Apache Spark, MATLAB, Scikit-learn, Excel, and Tableau. 

Data Science Final Project Ideas

The demand for data scientists is at an all-time high, with a 36 percent projected growth between 2021 to 2031 . They also receive high compensation, most of which hit the $100k mark. If data science is your number one career choice, strive to stand out in the data crowd. Here are some data science capstone project ideas:

  • Create a neural network. Consider using TensorFlow or PyTorch to create a neural network. Since computer vision and natural language processing are two of the biggest domains in machine learning today, it’s hard to go wrong with this data science capstone final project.
  • Implement a model architecture . A related idea is to pick one of the fancy new architectures that are making headlines and implement it. You could build a Generative Adversarial Network, a Long Short-Term Memory network, or any of a million others. 
  • Make a customized Twitterbot . You can have a Twitterbot that automatically classifies tweets based on sentiment. Don’t forget to balance your classes, and for extra credit, make it an application that can do real-time classification. 
  • Create a recommendation engine . Delve into feature engineering and build both collaborative and content-based filtering systems to get a feel for each approach. 
  • Build a profitable trading bot. Plenty of financial exchanges have APIs that allow you to plug a bot in directly, and it can be tested by trading with ‘fake’ money for a while. This is a serious undertaking and requires a lot of knowledge of financial metrics, backtesting, and algorithm design.

Cyber Security Project Ideas for Bootcamp Students

Cyber security experts are the frontliners that protect digital infrastructure from the threat of cyber attacks. Some of the best cyber security project ideas allow you to use popular tools to combat phishing attacks, password thefts, and data breaches. Let’s take a look at some cyber security bootcamp final projects that you can explore to fortify your skills and impress potential employers.

Types of Cyber Security Portfolio Projects

As we continue to see the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are bound to face cyber threats that can be detrimental to a business or an organization. As such, there is a wide array of cyber security portfolio projects that you can work on as an aspiring cyber security expert. These can help you get one foot in the door as they demonstrate in-demand skills.

Some of the most popular ideas include penetration testing projects and cryptography projects. If you are looking to become a penetration tester , it is recommended that you showcase your ethical hacking skills. Meanwhile, if you are learning cryptography , your focus should be on information security, programming languages, and cryptographic algorithms.

Cyber Security Final Project Ideas

To keep crucial information and digital infrastructure safe, companies require skilled cyber security specialists. The demand is expected to grow, too, in the next decade. It is projected that cyber security jobs will grow by 35 percent in the same period. To help you get there, keep your skills sharp using some of these cyber security capstone project ideas:

  • Use a packet sniffer to analyze network traffic. With the permission of an administrator, use packet sniffers to monitor all network traffic. Afterward, generate a report and analyze it to detect potential threats. 
  • Create your own antivirus. One of the harder feats to accomplish but highly possible, with a good understanding of cyber security concepts and excellent coding skills. Note that the project may take longer to complete in comparison with others on the list.
  • Build a password strength checker. This is one of the easier cyber security portfolio examples. Using Python, build software that evaluates the strength of a password. You can also make it so that you get an alert for weak passwords. 
  • Find bugs in websites. Scour the internet for potential bugs in code. This is normally done by completing bug bounties or joining a hackathon.  
  • Build a debugger. You can take the challenge up a notch by creating your own debugger, a software that detects bugs in code.

What Coding Projects Can I Do to Prepare for Bootcamp?

Depending on your bootcamp and area of specialization, the coding projects you can do may require different skill sets. For example, if you are a web development student, you would be expected to use tools like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Regardless of your field of expertise, these coding bootcamp final project ideas are meant to encourage you to explore exciting tasks that can help you grow as a tech professional. 

Coding Bootcamp Final Project Ideas FAQ

One of the things that make a good coding bootcamp capstone project is the hands-on experience that you would gain. Because capstone projects encapsulate both your technical and soft skills, it is crucial to pick a project that highlights your strengths and capabilities. It is also advisable to take on a project that correlates with your desired tech role.

There is no fixed number of projects a bootcamp grad needs to get a first job. It depends on several factors like the size, relevance, and focus of the project. Once you’re done with one, you can keep doing relevant projects to showcase your skills and versatility. Simultaneously, you need to actively look for a job to increase your chances of employment. Some coding bootcamps offer post-graduation career services to help with this.

The number of projects you will build in a coding bootcamp varies. Some coding bootcamps require students to complete one project at the end of each milestone as they progress, while others only make capstone projects mandatory. 

This is how you put a bootcamp project on your resume. First, list your coding bootcamp at the top of your Education list. Next, summarize your best projects in the following subsection. Alternatively, you can list the projects you are most proud of under a special section called Notable Projects. Remember to revise your resume to match each new job application as employers may have different expectations. 

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Top 15 Software Engineering Projects (2024)

Software Engineering has become the mainstream for IT Industry today. Every year more than 3 Lakh students land software engineering jobs as fresher and the demand for software engineers has been rapidly rising. 

Software Engineering Projects Ideas

With the increase in demand, the competition has been rising every year and it would require you to practice rigorously so that you can easily fit into IT Industry. To begin with this, you are required to analyze which domain (programming language & S.E. stream) to pick, and then only you’ll be able to build projects to gain expertise and confidence .

In this article, we will be sharing the best hand-picked software engineering projects from Beginner – Intermediate – Expert levels that will help you in sharpening your programming skills.

But, before we move ahead, let’s talk about the need for software engineering in today’s world. 

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Why is Software Engineering Required?

Today, every business (small or medium, or large) wants to keep itself updated. The demand for software engineering has grown 3x – 4x ever since (past 10 years stats) . Software Engineering & Software Development requires developers to keep digging for a better approach and they also help in organizing, managing, and delivering quality output within the timeline.

Besides this, some of the major companies/sectors that are actively hiring Computer Science Engineers are:

  • Technology – 37%
  • Fortune 500 – 21%
  • Telecommunication – 5%
  • Media – 5%
  • Internet – 5%

As of now, there are more than 1,02,000+ (India) jobs available for software engineers & 9,02,000+ (Worldwide) , and the figures are continuously growing every day. In this article, we’re going to talk about how we can achieve certain goals to become good software engineers along, and the ability to deliver high-quality post-service guidance/maintenance. You’ll get some of the best software engineering projects be it a beginner, intermediate or expert level.

Software Engineering Projects For Beginners

1. chess game.

It’s a well-designed game built to play in a very interactive way where pieces get moved from block to block by the system itself. This project is built to predict (human) moves and accordingly, it takes action. This app can be so satisfying and will make you feel like you’re playing in the real world. The best part is that you can even play with friends (remotely) and with the computer as well.

It would require you to set up a MySQL database so that user’s details can be stored (including name, score, ranking, etc.). You can also check out the article based on Chess Game for the best reference.

Key Features

  • The “Moves” section will keep track of all the records of the player’s moves and will proceed accordingly
  • This game will directly start with the main display and that will accelerate processing speed. 
  • A bare minimum system is required for this app – Windows XP or Windows 7

2. Social Networking

This is a beginner-level web-based social networking system that can be built in the software industry (small-scale) for any group, community, college, school, etc. The best part about this app is that it helps in connecting the targeted group and all the necessary details/announcements can be broadcasted seamlessly.

There will be 2 major modules in this project, i.e. Admin & Participants in which participants will be allowed to upload images, post feeds, follow or add people, etc. Besides this, all the feeds can be viewed by participants from the main section and they can even communicate with each other (just like Facebook Messenger) to establish a better connection.

  • This software engineer project can be helpful especially for students to keep track of everything like Placement details, Course Material, Lecture schedules, etc.
  • The admin will have access to remove any user or post.
  • The user will have multiple methods for signing up for their account.

3. Web Scraping

Web Scraping is a fun activity app that can be built for features like customer review analysis, price prediction, lead generation, data collection, etc. It is very useful to build projects by using Beautiful Soup (which is a free, open-source Python Library), and all the necessary data can be crawled back as per the preference.

Companies like Expedia, Amazon, Skyscanner, etc. are actively using this method to offer customers a door for analysis/comparison. This gives an opportunity for users to pick any item or submit a review on any platform (such as Amazon) as per their choice (fully transparent).

  • This tool can be used for performing sentimental analysis.
  • If you want to build any analytic system/app, then it is suggested to use Selenium & smtplib
  • Web scraping is a big tool for providing assistance in scaling up businesses on a mass level.

4. Calculator

One of the best software engineering projects is a simple or scientific calculator that can be used for educational organizations. This tool can be the best solution for solving complex mathematical calculations and it majorly focuses on numbers, arithmetic operations, etc. which are well-suitable for engineering students.

However, a simple calculator can also work well, but to generate powerful calculations, this tool can be the overall solution. Besides this, it’s a beginner-level software engineering project and you can easily find related apps over play/app store.

  • OS: Windows XP or 10
  • Processor: Pentium IV 
  • RAM: 512 MB Hard disk: 2 GB
  • Language: C Programming
  • The calculator will be simple to use & response time will be extremely fast
  • Multiplication
  • Subtraction
  • Square Root 
  • Inverse, etc.

5. To-do List

It’s a fancy way of maintaining records to carry out all your daily tasks. It’s a simple, web-based app that enables users to add, edit, delete, etc. to their list. Besides this, users will have the option to change font, text color, mark pointers, share on any other platform, etc. You may find similar apps on the play store/app store too.

If you want to start building this project, we recommend you check JavaScript Project on your To-do List and start working on it right away.

  • You can start building this project with minimal requirements. However, they can be scaled up on a higher level (depending on the changes you’re looking for).
  • There would be some basic items in this app – Title, Description, Priority, Checklist, etc.
  •  These software engineer projects are highly useful as it provides users to share their To-do lists on any platform.

Software Engineering Projects For Intermediate

6. daily reminder.

The Task reminder app is a useful project to keep track of every necessary task regularly. In this application, users will be allowed to view all of their tasks in the form of a list. You can even set custom reminders for any dedicated tasks along with the Alarm tone so that you never skip any daily/weekly/monthly task.

It’s a simple app that can save a lot of time and can be a useful resource for achieving your goals. You can start working on this project by carrying below-mentioned prerequisites:

  • Android Studio
  • Java or Kotlin
  • This task can be built using Android Studio (Java & XML), SQLite, etc.
  • Users can add, edit or remove any task along with the date & time
  • The user will also be allowed to put notifications on any of the certain tasks 

7. Weather Forecasting

This project is being divided into two modules, Data Gathering & Pre-processing, and Prediction Algorithm. This project would be based on prediction and that’s why data needs to be prepared in a structured way. For this, you can either be parsing or one-hot encoding. It’s best to implement Scikit-Learn (linear regression) model to train the datasets and once they’re trained you can provide inputs (temp, pressure, etc.)

This app is well-capable in predicting 6-7 days (up to) data sets and will fetch weather details on an hourly basis. It will also offer users to change location and measurements as per their choices. 

  • This project would require Linear Regression to predict the amount of Rainfall (in inches).
  • This project will take certain parameters to measure weather i.e. temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc.
  • Software requirement – Jupyter Notebook, Windows/Linux, Python 3, etc. 

8. Local Train Ticketing System

This a simple Java-based ticketing platform by which users can book tickets as per their choices for traveling in local trains. Users will have the option to choose the number of seats, class, and journey date, along with the source and destination.  

The payment system can also be included in this application so that users can add funds (via UPI, Netbanking, debit/credit cards, etc.), and likewise, they won’t be required to print their tickets while traveling. This will allow the user to download their tickets in pdf or other formats (just like a movie ticket), and with the same mode, they can also request to Cancel their tickets within 3 hours of the journey.

Key Features:

  • Booking Panel
  • With the help of this app, users can save a lot of time & users will no longer be required to stand in queues for hours.
The course on Full Stack Development with React & Node JS – Live  is the best choice if you want to become a full-stack web developer. Along with learning, this course also has some MCQ-based learning, and track-based learning methods, and at the end of the course, you’ll also get a course completion certificate which when added to your resume adds value to it. 

9. Patient Tracker

This is an Android-based application that aims to ensure maintain patient information along with the medical condition. In this project, the doctor would be able to fetch all the records of the patient every time he/she visits for a checkup. This will require Eclipse and SQL to build this project.

This system will work in two phases where the first would be for the patient to submit their record and the other one would be for the dedicated doctor who will fetch and check all the necessary details. This system will eliminate all the unnecessary paper works and will eventually reduce human interaction.

  • This project will be beneficial for patients to maintain their medical records and to participate actively to keep themselves aware.
  • Doctors can look into records by just applying a filter for the arrival date, disease, last visit, etc.
  • This project is efficient to deploy in small-mid segment hospitals/dispensaries. 

10. Online Fuel Delivery

The working module of this project is based on a food delivery system (app). You can use Kotlin or Flutter to build this project in which the user can order both Petrol and Diesel. Once the order is placed, users will be notified with their transaction details and delivery will be made at their location. 

However, you may also find apps like Yoshi, Fuelster, etc. are working on the same pattern. It is also one of the best ways of saving time, minimizing expenses, and providing service during emergencies.

  • The app will consist of 3 main modules i.e. Admin, User, and Driver
  • In this, users will also have the option to compare fuel stations (by distance, ratings, availability, etc.)
  • In this project, both user and the fuel station will have the option to modify or cancel the placed order.

Software Engineering Projects For Expert

11. exchanging loyalty points.

Nowadays most companies & banks are offering loyalty points on every purchase they make. But, the major drawback is that more than 60% of points get wasted due to unstable tracking of those points. To boost this, blockchain-based exchange of loyalty points will enable an easy exchange platform for their users.

With this project, a tokenized loyalty point system can be introduced so that perform 3 tasks seamlessly:

  • Track their loyalty points
  • To check no tampering has been done
  • To spend loyalty points on their desired choices
  • This software engineer project aims to provide a decentralized system which means there will be only one ownership i.e. USER
  • This project aims to provide advanced high security which can be achieved using Tomochain , which is a scalable blockchain network.
  • This project can reduce operational costs and will minimize the chances of errors.

12. Fingerprint Voting System

This project focuses on building a finger-print EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) that will lead to conducting successful elections. It’s a solid solution for any small-scale elections and can also be used within organizations for conducting polls during meetings.

Since, this project runs in electronic mode, the manpower, time, and transportation would be relieved if this can be planned to introduce on a bigger scale. It would also require Proteus Design Suite for ARM module operation which will alert when one candidate will try to vote multiple times.

  • This project would require – 1 Voting System, a Fingerprint module, and an ARM (Advanced RISC Machine) controller.
  • Paperless User Identification can be conducted after the introduction of fingerprint EVM which can save lots of time and resources.
  • In this project, both the candidates and the admin can view the results in real-time.

13. Railway Time Tracking & Prediction System

This app is intended to build to fetch details from one end and push it to the user’s end. By using this application, users can easily track their train along with its timing, running status, and expected time to reach (user’s desired) station. It’s a web-based application having two modules i.e. admin and user.

Applications like these use predictive methods and rail tracking applications can also be found nowadays on the play store and app store. The app will be designed to help local commuters and can also be used to use for tracking buses (after applying minor upgradation).

  • This software engineer project entails an admin system (module) that will fetch all the required details of the train including train number, timing, etc. and the same will be passed through the server which can be later tracked by the user.
  • Admin will have permission to add/remove information such as train arrival, expected arrival/departure, and so on.
  • Software Requirements: Windows – SQL – VS 2010

14. Suspicious Activity Tracker

This project will build an automated AI camera system to track any suspicious activity to prevent any unfortunate incidents in Banks, Malls, Airports, etc. The activity tracker will use schematics to work on the behavioral patterns and gestures of a person on the live feed.

If any such activity (fighting, pointing guns, etc.) occurs, an automated alarm will start ringing and nearby Police will get notified about the incident. This would require training cameras and deploying ML models, also customized functions can be added for auto-triggering the message/calls. 

  • Raspberry Pi 4
  • Speaker or Amplifier
  • This software engineer project would require an ML model to teach working on normal modules such as walking, talking, reading, etc. so that the camera can be trained for this project.
  • You can use TensorFlow, Lobe, or Edge Impulse to prepare this model and the method can be aligned with Raspberry Pi to convert the normal camera into a smart one.

15. Emotion-Based Music Player

The introduction of AER (Audio Emotion Recognition) and MIR (Music Information Retrieval) has made it possible to build systems by applying machine learning algorithms. This project entails working on automation to generate playlists for users.

Where the AER technology will evaluate the audio waves depending on the mood and emotions of the user, the MIR will follow a pattern to fetch the desired outputs based on the provided input.

  • The emotion modules included in this project could be sadness, joy-anger, joy-surprise, joy-excitement, joy, sad-anger, and anger.
  • The accuracy may vary between 80% -90% for detecting real-time images.
  • This software engineering project can revolve around three pillars i.e. Audio Feature Extraction Module, Emotion-Audio Recognition Module, and Emotion Extraction Module.

Why is Project-Based Learning Effective? 

It’s always said that practice is better than theory and that’s what coding is all about. The more you will practice, the more you’ll grab concepts. PBL or Project-based learning enables students to implement coding effectively through active participation, joining webinars, sharing thoughts, etc. College students can take a lot of benefits out of it in 5 major ways:

  • Critical Thinking
  • In-depth knowledge of any Live project

In other words, Project-based Learning can provide an opportunity, to build strong relationships, improve test results and create more projects that can provide benefits during placements.

Conclusion 

The objective was to provide a list of software engineer project ideas for all levels i.e. Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Working on projects can be fun, and that’s how you’ll learn and grow in the IT industry. In this article, we have provided a segregated list of different levels of projects and any language can be chosen to start with the project. 

It’s time for you to start creating some cool apps and push them Live for general usage. However, if you wish to check out more apps, you can browse the Internet to find out the resources that might be helpful during your software engineering journey. 

What are the different types of software projects?

There are majorly two classifications of software – Application Software and System Software. Working on a Software Engineering project requires an individual to use the right tools & technology (such as Python, Java, etc.). Some of the major kinds of Software Engineering projects are: Front-end Development Back-end Development Desktop GUI Application Full-stack Development Mobile App Development Database Development Web Development DevOps, etc.

Which project is best for software engineering?

Software engineering is a vast category & caters to many segments, they are responsible for creating games apps, web-based apps, etc. This can be achieved using different programming languages, frameworks, etc. Some of the best software engineering projects include: Chess Game Calculator Fuel Tracker Ticket System Web Scraping, etc.

Which software engineering projects are best for college students?

College students are required to work with beginner’s level engineering projects which require less expertise, some of them are: Health Management System Website Designing CRM for School/College Campus Face Detection Battery Saver

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Software engineering capstone projects demonstrate hands-on development experience

Diving in and developing a good idea takes confidence. Purdue Computer Science students possess that trait in abundance. Pursuing a capstone project is a completion marker for students’ coursework. In the Department of Computer Science, CS 40700 (Software Engineering Senior Project) is the capstone course which offers a hands-on development experience to seniors in the software engineering track of the computer science major.

Students use the knowledge, skills, processes, and tools that they have learned throughout their college career in a final professional project meant to solve a problem by creating a software solution.

The course instructor is Professor H.E. Dunsmore , along with graduate student teaching assistants (TAs); Eliz Tekcan, Tulika Sureka, Sripath Mishra, and Disha Dudhal, guide the teams to achieve a level of quality the industry expects of professional software engineering projects. TAs also help the students by using their knowledge of real-world software development practices. Each serves as the project coordinator for 4-5 teams, helping teams to formulate a design, implementation, and project plan. 

Eliz Tekcan also serves as head TA, coordinating five teams, while also mentoring and guiding the other teaching assistants. Every team is comprised of four to six students, this semester’s class consisted of 87 students, in teams of four to six, for a total of 18 teams. 

“This is my favorite part of the semester,” said Tekcan, “because we get to see how hard they worked on their final projects.” She added, “The projects we recognize at the end of the year always involve a well-communicating team developing every facet of their project, as well as technically skilled students putting their ideas into action.”

One of the benefits of capstone projects is to have another opportunity to create a long-term project with the help of others. Undergraduate, Razan Alkawai, said, "We used our previous experiences in classes as much as possible. Most of our team had good frontend experience from CS 30700 and internships. She added, “I had more backend experience, so our group divided the work based on our expertise. With frequent communication, we were able to complete our tasks efficiently."

capstone project software engineering

Project work like these capstones can prepare a student for a future position. Seung Heon Lee said, "While working on our project, we learned the importance and power of planned documentation and deadlines.” He added, “The design documentation with the UI prototype enabled us to execute the same design style throughout the whole application. This experience of working with the standardized format will help us to provide high-quality future applications more stably."

Four teams from CS 40700 were identified by the instructors for demonstrating excellent quality and coding.

Ramya Mandyam Anandampullai, Razan Fouad Alkawai, Seung Heon Lee, and Jihyun Pyun created a plant care app that provides its users with general plant care information from a growing database based on the USDA plant API. The app allows users to track water times, sunlight exposure, and outside temperature exposure if they log information regularly. Existing plant care apps have premium paywalls and do not allow access to all features in one self-contained app. Tulika Sureka, graduate teaching assistant, served as the project coordinator for Snowdrop. Snowdrop was designed to address that using an intuitive interface and free-to-access features. The app also provides an in-app community section for users to exchange advice and ask questions.  Ramya Mandyam Anandampullai said, “The software principles we learned from CS30700 and past internships have taught us how to work efficiently in groups.” She added, we've also had experience in the technologies we used, which helped us develop features quicker, understand the time constraints required for each task better, and hence plan out the whole app in an efficient manner."

Boiler LiftUp 

Pooja Bhasker, Lucas Cope, Vaibbavi Senthil Kumar, Anisha Sinha, and Harim Song created an app that aims to combine various aspects of fitness into one platform. The app allows users to meet all of their fitness needs such as suggested workouts, nutrition tracking, stat tracking, as well as social networking. Sripath Mishra, graduate teaching assistant, served as the project coordinator for Boiler LiftUp. This app was specifically built for Purdue students who are trying to start lifting weights or continue on their fitness journey. After having their own experiences with multiple fitness apps, the Boiler LiftUp team was inspired to create a new app that helps students keep a comprehensive record of all things fitness.  Boiler LiftUp also helps students connect to find their gym buddies. Anisha Sinha said, "Boiler LiftUp was created to reignite a passion for fitness and health within the Purdue community while also promoting opportunities to connect socially with other students.”

Sukriti Rai, Qiren Zhao, Erpan Abuduwaili, Chunao Liu, and Hadrien Billaud created a web application that minimizes the steps interviewers must take while setting up technical interviews. Interviewers have to set up sites like Zoom and HackerRank, which require numerous steps. HackerTime includes the video and coding environments all on one site. This site also includes a quick and lightweight setup. Disha Dudhal served as the project coordinator. “Our team identified a problem students can face, and we used skills learned throughout our time here at Purdue to develop a solution,” said Hadrien Pierre Billaud. With the focus on minimization, simplicity, and taking some suggestions from actual interviewers, the HackerTime team designed this app to make the common interview process much smoother. “It’s still amazing when I look back at where we started, and how our ideas sprouted from a concept to actual software,” said Chunao Liu.

Chris Koehne, Ruoyang Ye, Tom Appenzeller, Rohan Shankar, Jackson Oriez, and Dion Peng created a feature for social media sites that provides users with statistics on their account usage, similar to a feature based on Spotify’s annual Wrapped feature. inSite provides statistics catered towards each social media, even providing the option for data to be stored and assessed over time. Head TA, Eliz Tekcan, served as the project coordinator for inSites. Team member, Tom Appenzeller, said, “Additional features like multi-factor authentication and OAuth identity verification provide a layer of security to the user.” He added, "With social media presence becoming an integral part of society, providing an objective perspective on someone's online appearance can be incredibly useful.”

Writer: Cole Crider, [email protected]

Source: Eliz Tekcan, [email protected]

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IT Department Capstone Project Information

General Instructions : The capstone project evaluation will be done online between Dec. 7th, 2021 and Dec. 10th, 2021. Please get the evaluation done by Dec. 10th, 10:30am if you could. The evaluation submission link will be closed on Dec. 10th 5pm.

There are 29 capstone projects : 8 graduate projects in with project name starts with “GLW”, and 21 undergraduate capstone projects with project name starts with “UX” or “UZ”.  

The project information file contains project title, project website, recorded presentation, and evaluator assignment. 

Evaluation Guideline

IT Faculty Member : each faculty will be assigned 3 projects to evaluate. Feel free to evaluate additional projects if you like.

IAB Member : Please randomly pick up 3 projects to evaluate. Please evaluate at least 1 graduate project and 1 undergraduate project. Feel free to evaluate additional project if you like. 

Please evaluate the project based on the information presented in following items: 1) project website; 2) a recorded presentation. 

  • Project website design - style, layout, readability, media use, etc.  
  • Project website content – give audience an overview of the project and teamwork.
  • Recorded presentation - presentation slides are well designed and cover major aspects of the project in a logical flow.   
  • Recorded presentation - quality and creativity of video.       
  • Recorded presentation - presentation is well organized, the information is clearly delivered to the audience, and demonstrate confidence and enthusiasm.          
  • Overall impression on quality of the project and team project based on project website and recorded presentation.

Previous Capstone Projects

Distributed WiFi Availability Monitoring sponsored by KSU-UITS - First place in Graduate Capstone Project in CCSE C-day!

Background: Wireless has become an critical IT service, however the ability of providers to monitor the service has not matured at the same rate. The emergence of low cost wireless devices has created an opportunity for building a system that aggregates data from a large number of distributed data collectors.

Problem Statement: While it is easy to monitor the devices that provide the wireless service, it is difficult to determine the user experience.

Objectives: Develop a low cost and scalable solution that monitors the campus WiFi network from an end-user's perspective and collects information and statistics that can be used to form a picture of the end user experience on our WiFi network.

Intelligent Extraction: Finding Needle in a Haystack sponsored by ADP

Competitor's data or New logo data is often found as an unstructured text file. Extracting information from unstructured text and converting them into useful structured format is close to finding needle in a haystack. Several Natural Language Processes have been proposed and tested in the literature to perform unstructured document classification. However, deriving one or bunch of algorithms for our use case will be a good problem to solve, especially for students who seek to get to know the real world problems. In this project, we would like the students to develop a process that will:

1) Be able to parse and extract payroll related information from unstructured text file;

2) Convert the original unstructured data into structured one;

3) Automatically verify the information in the converted structured dataset match the original data source.

Impact of External Social Factors on Corporate Security Breaches sponsored by Home Depot

The goal of this project is to find out if there is a relationship between a company's external activities (Political or Social), the company's internal activities (business process/purpose), and their chances of being breached. Breaking down various company profiles and their external exposure, students would create a correlation model to see what factors, if any, increase or decrease the likelihood of cyber attacks and then build a predictive model to test the hypothesis.

When to buy Airline Tickets sponsored by Home Depot

The goal of this project is to find the best time to buy an airline ticket. Airline ticket prices vary depending on how soon the flight is. Using attributes of a specific flight such as airline, departure date, return date, trip duration, departure city, arrival city, flight distance, etc. try to predict the optimal date to purchase a ticket. For instance, it is generally true that the farther in advance you buy a ticket the cheaper it will be. However, this is a very simple heuristic which may not be true. In this project you will try to determine the relationship between purchase date, flight date, and flight cost. Additionally, you will try to build a predictive model so that a user can choose a specific flight and be given an optimal date to purchase the ticket.

Expert Collaboration with IT faculty Dr. Meng Han on Project - Modern Disaster Analysis Applications of Social Media sponsored by LexisNexis

Suggest (Guess) Dishes for Restaurant Customers sponsored by qMenu Inc.

The goal of this project is to find creative ways to engage customers, based on your intensive data analysis of the online ordering data for qMenu. For example, your research can be finding/suggesting customer' s favorite dishes. Self-driven is the key to be successful for this position, but we have PhDs and economics experts in house to help at anytime. At the later stage, YOU or a company engineer can help turning your ideas into reality.

Interactive Visualization of Food Insecurity sponsored by ICAT (icat.kennesaw.edu) - KSU

The project is to advance an interactive web-based tool that allows a user to click on a country to get information about its policy strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of a social market economy. The user can then simulate policy changes and see how this policy change changes the economic growth trajectory. Results will be presented through visualizations. Data sets will be prepared by the client.

Parking Maintenance Portal sponsored by Georgia Tech Parking and Transportation

Brief description: Web portal for maintaining parking space and maintenance information.

Background: Maintaining all information about 13,000 spaces and lots and decks can be overwhelming.

Problem Statement: A lot of information is through word of mouth, email, or phone calls. Often issues or tasks are forgotten and aren't tracked.

Objectives: - touchscreen friendly interface to include mobile devices (ie. tablets and smart phones) - 2D overview / map of individual lots and individual levels of parking decks - upon touching an area on the display, a popup will appear - the popup will display a form - the form will have drop down selections to categorize issues - the form will have text fields for entering detailed information - the form will be dynamic (ie. the remainder of the form will change depending upon what is selected in the first few dropdowns) - the form will be linked to a database - selected users will be emailed upon creation relative to the category - additional portal for entering data only

Multi-Factor Authentication Analysis sponsored by Georgia Technology Authority

In this project, the student will conduct an analysis on the application of multi-factor authentication on business organizations and government institutions. The tasks of this project includes:

1) understand MFA and it's pros/cons;

2) Research the MFA legislation;

3) Research the applications of MFA in government agencies;

4) create a implementation plan for an MFA solution in a mid-size business organization.

5) Present the findings to GTA Executive leadership.

Contact Relationship Management (CRM) sponsored by US Department of State

The US Department of State has encountered challenges with user acceptance, data quality and performance in its existing disparate (and thus largely incompatible) mailing list systems. Many of the existing systems are outdated or don't fully meet the needs of US Embassies and Missions. An IT service (CRM - Contact Relationship Management) has been implemented to address those challenges. It provides a central repository for all posts and domestic offices to store their contacts, and is actively being developed and improved by the Department itself, and thus has the potential to provide a more agile way to address the individual and collective needs of the different offices.

Many offices have inquired as to just how much more useful the new system is, so we will attempt to compare experiences and prior systems to the new system. We will assess CRMs shortcomings based on the pros and cons of the old systems and compare to user experiences with CRM

Case study on newly implemented IT Service

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Analyzing Challenges in Software Engineering Capstone Projects

Profile image of Yvonne Sedelmaier

Engineering complex software systems is a very delicate and challenging task, which involves a variety of technical, general non-technical, and context-specific nontechnical challenges. Getting better insight into the nature of these challenges is of paramount importance for aligning intended learning outcomes and didactical setup in software engineering capstone projects that aim at exercising and extending these competences. In order to obtain a fine-grained understanding of perceived challenges in capstone projects, this work presents results of a qualitative analysis of self-reports which students wrote as post-mortem documents after being part of such a capstone project. As a main contribution, the qualitative analysis substantiates results in earlier work that technical issues tend to be less challenging than non-technical ones, e.g., collaboration within the team and beyond, issues of project management and organisation, and methodological issues related to requirements engin...

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Diane Strode

Gilbert Ravalli

This paper describes an ongoing action research study based on application of the principles of the cognitive apprenticeship model applied to a final year capstone unit of study involving Information Systems analysis (ISA) projects. The aim of the capstone unit is to develop students' expertise in information systems analysis by exposing students to projects set in realistic environments, working with supervisors experienced in systems analysis. Students are formed into teams and work in the role of information systems analysts with industry clients on real world organizational problems typically related to process improvement in information technology. The research for this paper is performed through the use of structured reflective journals where the students are required to answer a wide ranging set of questions. These questions are designed to encourage students to reflect on their understanding of both the project and the process of systems analysis. This paper reports on t...

Carlos Tobar

This article presents a capstone project (CP) approach based on a two-semester effort developed individually to build up and reinforce skills fostered during a computer-engineering curriculum. The CP result is an artifact to be inserted in a context, which is developed, under guidance and monitoring. Besides the student, there are other three roles involved: the advisor for methodological issues; the co-advisor, for technical issues; and the client, to be the source for context knowledge. The student is responsible by planning, developing and managing the project, reporting it in a monograph that is presented in a public defense together with the artifact. The artifact must present a level of complexity that allows measuring some considered major skills. Student and co-advisor choose a methodology for the development effort, whose activities are planned and scheduled. The student should identify open problems in the considered context. One of these problems is chosen as an objective, which should be assessed. Assessment is considered an important issue in the development process. Results are promising: artifacts became real solutions, some even patented; students began graduation because of their CPs or were invited to work because of the acquired knowledge and skills; and students succeed with high self esteem and better communication skills.

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Software Engineering is an important area within industry and academia. Empirical software engineering has grown in importance in the software engineering research and education community. This means that it has become very relevant to include empirical studies or practices into computer science and software engineering curricula. This paper shows the results of applying an empirical approach to teaching software engineering through real-life projects. The computer science capstone experience is designed to bridge the gap from university expectations to those of industry.

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What Is a Capstone Project in Engineering?

For Faculty Lecturer Alyssa McCluskey , the capstone project at the University of Colorado’s Engineering Management Program (EMP) boils down to two things: agency and opportunity. 

Agency, because students can chart their own course. And opportunity, arising from that agency, allows students to become leaders on their own or within their organizations. McCluskey ought to know: Capstone worked for her as a student and she knew, eventually, it could work for others as well.

“In my civil engineering capstone, we could explore and create different solutions to the use of biosolids, and I was really proud of the report and presentation that we produced,” McCluskey says. “I did send the report to my future employer, a research institute in Boston, and was hired partially based on the document that I had sent them. And I just remember really enjoying the process. So I wanted to bring that to this Program as something to offer the students.

What Is a Capstone Project?

In the Engineering Management Program, students can now elect to cap off their engineering curriculum with a capstone project. The project can be anything that uses their management and engineering skills to make a product, design software or find innovative ways to affect change within their industry.

In the past, students were given a list of topics to write an 8-10 page paper using concepts learned throughout the program to culminate their degree. McCluskey found that the traditional method was serving neither students nor faculty well. This method seemed like just regurgitating material and lacked a meaningful experience for students to use what they learned throughout the degree.

Looking for more flexible options for CU students, the EMP decided to offer two paths for degree completion: completing the full coursework, 30 credit hours, or taking 27 credit hours of coursework and completing a final 3-credit capstone project in their final semester. 

“We made the capstone flexible so students can explore any ideas or topics of interest,” McCluskey says. “Anything from hot topics in project management to anything they found interesting over their courses in the EMP. I encourage them to look at courses they really enjoyed, talk with professors they enjoyed learning from, meet with professionals working in areas they are interested in and think of topics around that.”

A Diverse Range of Capstone Project Ideas

EMP just launched this program and there are four students in the first cohort, each working on a unique capstone project. All of them are focused on finding practical solutions to real-world problems.

One student’s capstone is about finding effective methods and tactics to increase employee engagement within the Office of Information Technology (OIT).

“This is a student who’s employed at OIT at CU,” McCluskey says. “And so she was asking how do we retain our employees and make them happy and want to stay? She found some startling statistics that close to 50% of employees are thinking of leaving.”

This capstone is especially topical given the nature of the Great Resignation where many employees are seeking better opportunities and are no longer willing to settle for the status quo.

“She did a number of surveys, listened to podcasts, took some courses and came up with a plan that she’s trying to implement within her department based on the capstone she worked on,” McCluskey adds. 

Another fascinating engineering capstone project idea was one student’s mission to make a more sustainable satellite, combining interests in both sustainability and the aerospace industry. 

“They developed a tool to quantify the environmental impacts of producing, launching and disposing of a satellite,” McCluskey says. After inputting the information into a spreadsheet, it comes out with “the carbon footprint of what the satellite would produce. And not only that but also ranking which areas you should spend your [resources] and get the most bang for the buck that’s most probably going to reduce your carbon footprint,” McCluskey says.

Given the concerns about orbital “space junk,” this capstone project addresses a need in aerospace that could be all the more germane as technology allows us to explore beyond our own planet.

And for the person on the move  whose arms are constantly full and trying to literally—and figuratively—juggle the messiness of life, one student came to the capstone project with an idea already in hand: “merge bottle technology”—magnetized stacking water bottles that allow you to carry different beverages or food in one place, even at different temperatures.

“What I saw was great,” McCluskey says. “As a parent, you’re having to carry all these things, right? Also, he found that people in the healthcare industry and first responders who might be on a shift for a long time were interested right away. You can keep something hot, you can keep something cold, you could put food in one and drinks in another. Teachers as well. They have all these bags and bunches of containers they carry around. So instead of having multiple water bottles for your coffee and your water, you could just carry one stack.”

Yet another capstone project focuses on the uncertainties inherent in software product development and how that uncertainty affects humans at the neurobiological level. 

“This student is in the software product management field, so she studied how we can better support employees to deal with uncertainty,” McCluskey says, “and she came up with four main things that companies can do to help their employees deal with that.”

The capstone project identified four key strategic theories—frequent stakeholder communication, a transparent roadmap with dependencies, iterative feedback opportunities and integration and focus on analytics—that empower product managers to ameliorate uncertainty among stakeholders during the software development process. 

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that students focus their capstone project not on abstract concepts, but on tangible strategies that have the potential for immediate real-world application. As a result, these capstone projects can help a student stand out as a desirable employee and a potential leader in their field or company.

Communication and Research: Soft Skills for Engineers that Pay Dividends

Many people—even many experts— know their field and products inside and out but struggle with communicating their ideas and knowledge to key audiences within their company or to clients. To help develop these skills, part of the capstone project incorporates a communication course. 

“This involves working on your writing, working on your presentation skills, and working on peer reviews,” McCluskey says. 

Good communication also means translating sometimes complex ideas and knowledge into a “language” that a wide audience can understand. That’s a skill that students refine over the course of their projects. 

“You may understand something so well that you’re using acronyms others don’t know and you just lose the reader right away,” McCluskey says. “So that’s something we spend some time on. What’s nice is that we switch throughout the semester with our peers as well as the instructors and advisors so that if anybody is unfamiliar with something, it’s highlighted.”

Another benefit of the capstone project is that it allows students to stretch and improve their research skills beyond the usual Google search. Rachel Knapp, assistant professor and applied sciences librarian at CU, spoke to the capstone cohort and went over online resources available to CU students via OneSearch and discussed best practices in research strategies—for instance, how to narrow a topic and get the best out of information searches and how to determine which journals you may want to publish in. If capstone students get “stuck” in their research or are not getting the results hoped for, they can set up an appointment with a CU librarian to help with ideas and options. 

Armed with this information, the capstone gives the students a chance to put into action much of what they’ve learned during the EMP and presents a valuable opportunity to live out what being an engineering manager is all about.

“They come in and they are the project manager of their capstones, ” McCluskey says. “So they get a chance to implement all the things you can think of that go into that: time management, building out your product schedule, problem-solving skills, thinking ahead, identifying what you might run into that’s going to cause a problem. They start to build their confidence because they’re now experts on this topic.”

Taking on a project of this nature flexes many skills including writing and planning, constructively giving peer feedback, and setting and achieving goals—while also making a student an attractive hire or a more effective contributor in their current position.

“The student who created the toolbox for the sustainable satellite,” McCluskey says, “is actually presenting to some higher-ups in his company who have expressed interest in what he’s done. So that’s not only letting our student be seen by people up in his organization but also giving him a way forward and fast track in that sense.”

“This is a Chance to Explore Something That Interests You”

For students, these ideas for capstone projects lead to something beyond typical coursework: the freedom to explore. Instead of listening to lectures and wondering, “Will this be on the test?” EMP capstone cohorts take the reins of their interests and bring those ideas to the world with the idea of solving a problem for individuals  (teachers/mothers/first responders) or an entire industry (more sustainable satellite building for aerospace).

“This is a chance to explore something that interests you,” McCluskey says. “You’re not coming to a class prescribed exactly what you have to learn. You get to choose where you want to put your time and where your interests lie. It’s a win-win: You’re getting credit for it, and you're also coming out with something that you might personally believe in or want to move forward with.”

McCluskey is proof positive of the benefits of the capstone. She still works with advisors she knew from 30 years ago. 

She says, “You’re really developing those relationships as well, not only with your classmates through working together in peer reviews and class, but also with your advisor and other professionals you interact with over the semester.” 

“I’m their guide on this adventure,” McCluskey adds. “I bring in some guest speakers so they can learn from outside experts. I try to base the guest speakers on student interests like entrepreneurship and journal editors for publishing papers to help spark and refine student ideas. I also have lectures and guest speakers on communication best practices throughout the course, and then help them stay on track.”

Advisors, faculty or working professionals who are chosen by each student, meet with them at least five times over the semester, all the while reviewing the work. These relationships may bear fruit later in a career and provide an important sounding board for bouncing around new ideas.

And in the end, the progress made quite literally puts a capstone on the Engineering Management Program.

“It gives you confidence and pride in the culmination of your degree,” McCluskey says. “It's not just a piece of paper, you actually have a product that you've developed and the ability that you can do something like this.”

Engineering Capstone Projects: For EMP, It’s Just the Beginning

For McCluskey, this is an exciting time. Seeing the four students come through the capstone project fills her with optimism for the future of the project and, more importantly, what it offers to EMP students willing to take on the capstone and flex their engineering skills.

She sees students come in with ideas that are all over the board and then with her help along with other advisors, refine the ideas so they are manageable and attainable. It is gratifying for McCluskey to hear what the cohort had achieved at the end of this pilot program.

“We had them present to all the advisors at the end of the semester and they offered beautiful presentations,” she says. “They were high quality. They were very articulate. They answered questions. It was fun to see the advisors’ excitement with the different products.”

It could be that one student's capstone becomes the cornerstone of another student’s in the future; that it could, as McCluskey says, “spawn another idea for the next capstone. There might be somebody interested in a project that someone else did before and they could take it to the next step.”

For now, the capstone project is offered only in the spring semester, but with growing interest, it could be offered every semester.

The hope is that each session of capstone projects will spur more inspiration and more innovation.

“I was ready for some bumps along the road,” McCluskey says. “I was able to be pretty agile and move where I saw the needs that were there. So I’m really excited to learn more from these students and watch more students grow from an idea to a product they’re proud of. So I’m excited to just have more of them.”

Learn More About the EMP Capstone

To learn more, please visit the Engineering Management Program website or email [email protected] for more information about the capstone project.

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Software Engineering Capstone Project

Software Engineering MS students taking capstone registers for the 3 hour course: SWEN 6837 Software Engineering Capstone Project. The capstone project class is generally offered in the fall and spring semesters and occasionally offered in the summer semester. The enrollment is limited to students who are in their graduating semester (last 9 hours of study including capstone) and have completed all required foundation courses identified on their candidate plan of study (CPS) and any prerequisites prior to enrollment in capstone. If the student has 12 hours or more remaining they may not enroll in capstone. This is a controlled course and required Software Engineering department consent. The course instructor assigns small groups of students to work on designated project. The capstone focuses on a real-world project and vary by semester. Past projects involved process definition; others centered on reuse, design, requirements gathering; others were research oriented.

Software Engineering Program

Dr. S. Andrews White Program Chair Phone: 281-283-3867 Email: [email protected]

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Capstone Projects in Software Engineering at Alfaisal University

capstone project software engineering

At Alfaisal University, we believe experiential learning is essential for the Software Engineering program. Capstone projects are designed to bring innovative, out-of-the-box thinking to technology problems. The application of coursework to real-world scenarios, the “Capstone Project” experience, is central to our students’ education. In the Software Engineering program at Alfaisal University, students work on real-world projects with partner institutions which share use cases and data with the capstone team to create a customized technology solution.

capstone project software engineering

A project showcase was held in May 2023 for the graduating Class of 2023 in the Software Engineering program. Collaborators and co-designers from partner institutions were extremely pleased with the outcomes from the capstone projects their organizations worked on with Alfaisal students. Student teams were perceived to be energetic, creative, and driven and were able to achieve results over and above what was outlined in the initial scope through their dedication and outside-the-box thinking. Over two 15-week periods, partners get more than a thousand hours of dedicated, focused work by a team of talented undergraduate students enrolled in the Software Engineering program who are led by faculty expert advisors at Alfaisal University’s College of Engineering.

capstone project software engineering

“I think the topics that were selected by students were definitely things that are relevant today and even more tomorrow, and it was refreshing to see that the Software Engineering students actually went and looked at the pain points of what makes these topics so interesting,” noted Dr. Areej Al-Wabil, Chair of the Software Engineering Department at Alfaisal. Capstone sponsors and/or partner organizations work with a team of talented students and a faculty advisor to address a business/organizational problem with a technology solution, contributing to the partner’s mission and success and in alignment with the capstone project’s learning objectives. The capstone projects that were showcased in May 2023 by the Software Engineering students varied across a broad spectrum of applied computing domains. Topics ranged from cybersecurity systems to artificial intelligence (AI) enabled systems and embedded systems. Student teams were highly creative, taking initiative and providing very high-quality work. Their strong acumen and thirst for learning made a considerable impact on the success of the projects that were showcased in 2023.

capstone project software engineering

The capstone courses in the Software Engineering program allow students to undertake software development projects meant to encapsulate, augment, and complete their experiences as students majoring in software engineering. The requirement encourages students to develop projects both informed by their passions and that will enable them to take the next step in their learning, as well as springboard them into their careers after graduating from Alfaisal University.  The Capstone project provides an opportunity for students to build new skills, combine their interests in a way they haven’t yet done at Alfaisal University, work with community partners, and create a tangible deliverable. Across two semesters in their senior year, Software Engineering students learn and apply the engineering design process: defining functional requirements, conceptualization, analysis, identifying risks and countermeasures, selection, and physical prototyping.

The capstone project plays a vital role in preparing students for the world of work due to its practical applications and ability to help hone students’ professional knowledge and technical skills. Faculty advisors reflected on how the capstone projects in the Academic Year of 2022-2023 offered unique opportunities for students to carry out independent group research and development in partnership with stakeholders and/or co-designers in order to devise an innovative solution for a real-world problem. While a project of this scope and scale can be challenging, it can also be very rewarding for the students and faculty involved in the software development process.

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Alfaisal university faculty awards for research excellence 2021.

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How to form a software engineering capstone team?

Associated data.

The data that has been used is confidential.

This research paper answers the question that how shall the students of software engineering undergraduate courses form teams for the capstone projects that can be cohesive too. In this research, 128 criteria for team formation are proposed for building teams for self-managing software engineering capstone projects. A comparison is also conducted to ascertain the level of cohesion among those teams that were formed using the proposed criteria and those that were not formed using the proposed criteria. The criteria were identified through a combination of qualitative questionnaire survey targeted at the graduated students of the past batches of Computer Science degree program and through synthesizing the literature on engineering capstone project teams identified under the guidance of KSAO framework for software engineering students. To check the effectiveness of the criteria, 100 students were asked to form the teams using the proposed criteria and other 100 students formed the teams without the proposed criteria. Those students that had used the proposed criteria for building teams and those that had formed teams without using the proposed criteria were asked to fill the modified Group Environment Questionnaire to ascertain the level of cohesion among the team members. The results were analyzed qualitatively and through descriptive quantification. The results show that the level of cohesion in teams that were formed using the proposed team building criteria was higher. There was a need for team building criteria in the literature on software engineering capstone project teams that conforms to a conceptual, theoretical framework; this gap is now filled through this research. This paper may also serve as a literature review paper for some readers.

Engineering education, Team formation, Capstone project, Software engineering, Cohesion, Psychographics.

1. Introduction

As more and more departments that offer an undergraduate degree program in Computer Science and Software Engineering demands the students to complete a capstone project as part of the requirement for getting a degree, researchers should pay attention to the obvious question of how should the teams for such projects be formed. The ability to work effectively in teams is a key competence for information systems engineers for a long time ( Figl, 2010 ). Whereas the students are required to build the teams, they are often not given any criteria for doing so ( Connerley et al., 2001 ). The result is that the students either resort to forming the teams using the classical method of relational bias ( Pinto, 2008 ) or they form the teams with the assistance of a professor ( Layton et al., 2010 ). The literature has shown that the teams that are formed using either of the two techniques don't display high level of cohesion ( Imel et al., 1996 ).

Naturally if a professor expects the students to build a self-managing team that will work on the capstone project independently, they must also be given certain guidance for doing so. Review of literature on engineering capstone project teams and the team of software engineering students show that no established team building criteria for such purpose exists in the literature ( da Silva et al., 2013 ). However, 19 research articles (appendix A) were found that proposes the criteria for building teams of professional software engineers that would be working in an organizational environment. None of these 19 researches were conducted with the students, and none of these researches proposed team building criteria specifically for the students. Moreover none of the 19 researches conducted for teambuilding criterions for software engineering teams, were guided by any competent framework of knowledge, skills, abilities and other factors ( da Silva et al., 2013 ). The criteria that we mentioned in these articles were as follows: Technical proficiency and skills was the most established criteria for selection, prevalent in 18 out of the 19 researches. One theoretical research and up to six empirical researches had reported behavior as the second most prevalent criteria. The other criteria found in these 19 research papers were: Task Preference, Personality, Peer Indication and Availability. No organizational related criteria were found in these researches.

In a separate paper, Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a proposed a Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Others framework so as to guide this current research. This was necessary because as da Silva et al. (2013) had reported, normally selection criteria in the literature was not guided by any framework; thus the direction of search for criteria were abrupt and unguided. Precisely, the goal of this reported research, firstly was to identify the criteria that students may use to select students of software engineering capstone course when building a software project self-managing team in an educational degree program. This research is a paper reported from the author's doctoral dissertation that has also investigated the relationship of the level of formalization in the use of cohesion and selection criteria. Self-managing teams work without much supervision and normally through socially shared regulation of learning strategy. Whereas the past researchers were doing much research in instructor led team formation, this research is dedicated to how can students select by themselves their team members in order to form a cohesive team.

The organization of this paper is as follows. Methodology to conduct this research is presented in the upcoming section 2 . In section 3 , the team building criteria identified are formally presented to the reader. The subsections of section 3 , presents the team building criteria found for each theme and subtheme of Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Others framework briefly introduced in the methodology section and in detail in Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b . Section 4 presents the results of the Group Environment Questionnaire dispensed to the students that had not formed their teams under the guidance of the selection criteria presented in this research and to those that did formed their teams through the selection criteria presented in this research. Section 5 presents a discussion on the results. And finally section 6 concludes this paper.

2. Methodology

To identify the criteria for forming the teams, the input is taken from student interviews and the literature review. The review of literature itself was guided by the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Others (KSAO) framework proposed in Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b . The framework consist of nine subthemes categorized under two major themes. These themes are: Teamwork or Soft Skills and Taskwork or Technical Skills. Teamwork or soft skills theme consist of those themes that are a combination of relational skills, societal skills, communication skills, personality traits, attitudes, and communication style among others. Teamwork attributes are a necessity for effective team performance. Task work attributes affects the functional operations performed by team members and directly affect the completion of tasks. These attributes are related to the technical needs of a job irrespective of which organization it is carried out in and whether done as alone or as a group. The task work or technical skills theme consists of core expertise required to perform technical operations such as project management, software processes and design processes etc.

Students from past batches of undergraduate degree in software engineering were asked to respond to a questionnaire specifically designed for this research. This questionnaire is developed using the self-reporting method. The questionnaire asked the passed out students to report which criterions they had used explicitly or implicitly for making teams or which criteria they thought they should have used for forming the team. Moreover, a review of literature on self-managing teams, software engineering teams, capstone teams, and students was conducted. The responses of the students on the questionnaire were substantiated by the data obtained from review of literature. A Psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire is designed to assist the students in using the proposed criteria ( Shaikh et al., 2020 ). The questionnaire can be viewed at the following URL: www.drmkhalidshaikh.com/pseq.pdf .

To test the usefulness of the proposed team building criteria, a sample size of 200 students were included in the research. Out of this sample, 100 students were those that had already graduated in the past and had done a capstone project in which they didn't used the proposed criteria for forming their teams. These students were asked to fill a modified form of Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) to assess the level of cohesion among their team members. The Group Environment Questionnaire is an established tool for assessing cohesion in team members (proposed by Carron et al., 1985 ) Carron and has already been used after modifications several times (for example, Wong, 2015 ) for the research such as the current one. In this research, only the wording of the questions were changed so as to align with the context of this research; thus the validity and reliability of the modified GEQ is the same as that of the original GEQ.

The second group of 100 students were those that were asked to form the teams using the proposed criteria that were presented to them as a self-administered questionnaire; software named Psychographd ( Shaikh et al., 2018a ) was developed that had assisted the students in recording the responses of each student on all the questions of the questionnaire; the software has automated the process of proposing possible teams through matching the responses of the students, thus freeing the students from having to remember their own responses and comparing the responses of others on the all items of the questionnaire. The details of the software are available in Shaikh (2018) . It was mandatory to answer all the questions developed around all proposed team building criteria. Once these students organized themselves into one of the several teams proposed by the software, they worked on their capstone projects within these teams for the next 10 months before they were approached again and they too were asked to fill the modified GEQ. The data thus obtained through GEQ is analyzed and interpreted. The data presented here is also available in Shaikh (2018) .

2.1. Role of Psychographd in team building

As mentioned above, software named Psychographd is developed for recording the responses of the students on the psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire. The software is indigenous in the sense that it not only records the responses of the students, it also matches the responses of the students to each other. The students that have highest number of near similar responses are placed in a team. Those students that do not have similar responses are not made part of the same team. This method is not supervised by any instructor because the students of a class can reply to the questionnaire at home and online as individuals. The chances of introduction of students’ biases into their responses are low, because a psychographic questionnaire is normally very large and deep as is the case with the psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire, therefore it is not possible to ensure that two students give the similar responses.

3. Team building criteria for self-managing software engineering capstone project teams

Rousseau et al. noted that in an organizational environment, team-members’ comportments may be divided into “task work behaviors and teamwork behaviors” ( McIntyre et al., 1995 ; Morgan et al., 1986 ). Task work behavior involves the functional operations performed by team members ( Morgan et al., 1993 ) and they directly affect the completion of tasks; they are related to the technical needs of a job irrespective of which organization it is carried out in and whether done as alone or as a group. Task work behaviors ensures the performance of tasks. On the other hand, teamwork behavior is in-built in teamwork ( McIntyre et al., 1995 ). Rousseau et al. noted that teamwork behavior represents everything from the manifests, clear instructions, to conflict management skills etc. Teamwork behaviors are a necessity for effective team performance ( Taggar et al., 2001 ). Several researchers have proposed a number of frameworks to provide a grouping of taskwork and teamwork behaviors (e.g., Hoegl et al., 2001 ; Cannon-Bowers et al., 1995 ; Marks et al., 2001 ) which aim to describe the miscellaneous processes or dimensions of taskwork and teamwork behaviors. However, no KSAO frameworks existed specifically for engineering and technology student teams.

Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b bridged this gap and proposed a framework that consisted of two major categories and 9 sub-categories of knowledge, skills, abilities and other factors. The categories were: teamwork or soft skills and taskwork or technical skills. The subcategories in Teamwork or soft skills were: interpersonal/social skills, conflict management skills, collaborative problem solving skills, individual self-management skills, and personality and in Taskwork or technical skills: software project management skills, taskwork skills, software development process skills, and work analysis and reflection skills. The criteria proposed in this research are organized under these categories and sub-categories.

Under the guidance of the KSAO framework mentioned above ( Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b ), using a combination of qualitative survey of the past students of undergraduate degree program in Computer Science (that had studied at the Department of Computer Science of Federal Urdu University, NED University of Engineering and Technology and University of Karachi), and the synthesis of the literature on engineering as well as the software engineering capstone project teams, 128 team building criteria are identified (see Table 1 ). Since, the criteria itself may lead to unintended interpretation of them, therefore, they were contextualize in the student team scenario by forming questions around them, giving rise to a questionnaire, that is now known as Psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire ( Shaikh et al., 2020 ).

Table 1

Team building criteria for self-managing se student teams.

3.1. Teamwork skills

In the following section, the identified criteria for building cohesive teams of capstone software engineering projects are discussed.

3.1.1. Interpersonal/social skills

From the literature and from the interaction with the students, it is found that the students like to work with those colleagues that are already trained in cultural conditioning” ( Larsson et al., 2003 ; Lewis, 2000 ). What it means is that, the students seek colleagues that are not affected by the cultures and traditions that their colleagues follow. A cohesive team can only be formed if the students are tolerant towards each other's culture and traditions. Similarly, the students were seeking dependable colleagues when forming the teams. It is one of the criterions that Hansen thought should be utilized for team building ( Hansen et al., 2011 ). Dependability is one of the traits mentioned in Bartram's Great Eight competencies which describes a person's 'supporting and cooperating competency' and ‘organizing and executing’ traits much needed by self-managing teams ( Bartram, 2005 ). Another characteristic that the student were seeking in their colleagues was empathy ( Larson et al., 2003 ). Teams cannot survive if they are devoid of such people that like to motivate others. It is considered an important factor for self-managing teams. Several students reported that they would like to indulge those students in teamwork that motivate and encourage others to have their opinion too. This characteristic is found important in performance management as well ( Reilly et al., 2009 ). This ability to motivate others is in fact a litmus test for their not being diligent isolates or social loafers. Studies on the soft skills required by computer science graduates has revealed that the desired skills in students also include constructive criticism, problem solving skills, listening skills, team work, adaptability to new technology, transferring knowledge to application, time management, visualization and conceptualization skills and verbal communication ( Hathaway, 1999 ). Other desired skills that the literature presents, include the ability to multitask, dealing with business culture, inter-team communication, interpersonal skills, organization skills, stress management and general writing skills. The literature also emphasizes the ability of the computer science students to have technical writing skills, ability to lead, and ability to deal with diverse cultures and presentation skills ( Sukhoo et al., 2005 ; Behfar et al., 2008 ; Motschnig-Pitrik et al., 2007 ). Students and teachers also liked to work with those students that may present the original ideas. Being original is an important skill required by the students. Some research has indicated that gender-homogeneous groups produce more original solutions to problems than gender-heterogeneous groups do ( Kent and McGrath, 1969 ; Randall et al., 2011; Wax, 2015 ). A similar characteristic found important is the peer indication. Peer Indication is about being indicated or referred to as an individual by a trustworthy source, such as a reference provided by a line manager or group member (or a teacher) to others they trusts ( da Silva et al., 2013 ); such students are normally absorbed into the group rather quickly. Every student interviewed for this research also emphasized the need of a colleague to be trustworthy to be included in the team. Trust is the vital connection between team leader and the team members ( Freire, 1990 ; Evans, 2000 ). Many team members don't always make use of opportunity to actively participate in team works or to practice team leadership because of the lack of trust and past adverse experiences with teams ( Sergiovanni, 2000 ). Being patient is also considered a very important characteristic by the students. Team based working is often very difficult and requires patience, rather than an explosive personality ( Fullan, 1999 ). Literature reveals that impatience is attributed to disruption of the team sometimes permanently ( Wasonga et al., 2007 ). Respecting others and showing humility is also found as a much desire skill. Humility is recognizing that wisdom, knowledge and talent does not reside in an individual's mind alone and that the success is not possible only due to their actions ( Murphy et al., 2004 ). Humility is an important element of leadership quality because it demonstrates a leader's ability to encourage others to lead others to the same role that they possess without considering self-interest ( Sergiovanni, 2006 ). Humility is also important for self-improvement because as Murphy (2000) suggests, it enables a leader to acknowledge his weakness; this stimulates self-disclosure on various issues about team tasks. A team member who is unwilling to treat coworkers as respectable colleagues and share self-assessment with them cannot expect shared confidences in return ( Murphy, 2000 , p.120). Great leaders are humble and fearless ( Collins, 2001 ) and respect others ( Wasonga and Murphy, 2007 ). Literature has shown that students like to have tolerant “more flexible and less stubborn” ( Tasa et al., 2011 ; Wong, 2015 ; Mealiea et al., 2005 ) students among their group. Students that were more quickly and readily available for work were considered as much desired; this is why their preferred workplace was considered as a deciding factor. Students were of the view that those individuals that like to work in a group were more desired. Students that had high absenteeism record are mostly rejected by other students ( Connerly et al., 2001 ). Preference of workplace as university versus home describes whether the student have the inclination towards social loafing. Some students were also of the view that they like to have colleagues that have willingness to work on weekends. Strong group social life is also a desired skill; this is a result of good informal relations occurring within a group environment and is identified by a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Cohesion stemming from interpersonal interactions are required and preserved because members feel comfortable with each other ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ). Carron and Spink (1995) who had devised a model for team cohesion has placed much emphasis on social integration of team. Both Connerly et al. (2001) and Wilkins et al. (2000) noted that where a student lives also greatly affects cohesion in the team, thus signifying the importance of residence. It is noted that the distance between the residences of the team members from each other and from the university also decides the absenteeism rate in them. Students would decline the group work offers past the university hours or on weekends citing the distance of their residence from others as the reason. In the same vain, the indulgence in group extracurricular activities ( Connerly et al., 2001 ; Wilkins et al., 2000 ) is also a deciding factor for group membership offer. Similarly, students that have good skills of intercultural interaction are considered an asset ( Chang, 2014 ; Behfar et al., 2008 ). Team of capstone projects are self-managing in nature. The teams are not governed by any fixed structure. Therefore the students that are in favor of flexible/structural support ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ) of teams are much desired by the group members. A reason why a capstone project team fails is because of the team formation based on relation bias. Relation bias is a measure of an individual's tendency to select only those individuals into the team who he or she know personally and probably not professionally ( Pinto, 2008 ). Students regard their friends as technically sound without having assessed them for it, thus they offer them team membership. Those students that participates actively and believe in shared leadership were much desired in the teams. Active participation occurs when roles such as collaborator, contributor, facilitator, and challenger are carried out by the team members instead of only the team leader. The idea is that for involving everyone in the team, leadership role should not always be carried out by the same individual ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ).

Another important skill sought in team members is their diligence; importance of it can be established from the contrary fact that teams does not want to involve the diligent isolates. These diligent isolates are much like what Pfaff and Huddleston (2003) recognized as ‘leader’ that likes to work independently, thus discouraging others participation. They are akin to a concept by Smarkusky et al. (2005) i.e. ‘poor drivers’ and Feldman Barr et al. (2005) 's lone wolf, who impacts negatively on the team performance ( Feldman Barr et al., 2005 ). A diligent isolate willingly works alone, to complete his own tasks as well as that of other members. He does not know how to distribute the tasks and have poor social skills thus denying teammates the opportunity to learn technical skills ( Vreda Pieterse et al., 2010 ).

3.1.2. Conflict management skills

A characteristics that is naturally desired by the students in their colleagues is their ability of conflict management ( Bridget et al., 2015 ; Stevens and Campions, 1994 ). This skill implies that individuals have a developed skill to manage full range of conflicts through launching appropriate internal control mechanism and interpersonal sensitivities ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ; Stevens and Campions, 1994 ; Van Meer et al., 1989 ). An interesting observation that the students that sounded intellectual in nature were found more desirable as well. Students found such individuals attractive because of their ability to present their ideas in depth. Curious students were also found as much in demand. Big Five personality types too identified a characteristic of effective team member as 'open to experience' and explained this as being curious, original and broad minded ( Annelies et al., 2001 ). Another desired characteristic of a team member, is their being able to play the role of Mediator ( Hogan and Thomas, 2005 ; Behfar et al., 2008 ; Sargent et al., 2001 ). Literature has shown that among the most successful student project, the projects that maintained the highest standard of process and product quality throughout, was the one project that followed a mediator style for global communication with only a single point of contact on each team ( Gotel et al., 2006 ). Other important skills found in this category includes meetings skills, negotiation skills, networking skills, market knowledge, management skills, the use of information technologies ( Pereira, 2013 ) and the ability to Brainstorm ( Futrell et al., 2002 ).

3.1.3. Collaborative problem solving skills

For collaboration, Ortega et al. (2010) had noted that focusing on key issues is an important ability desired on student teams. Other important characteristic in this category is Collaboration. It is about abandoning self “to the strengths of others, admitting that we cannot know nor do everything” ( DePree, 2004 ) and it is the “willingness to grant authority to peers, courage to accept the authority granted to oneself by peers and skill in the craft of interdependence” ( Bruffee, 1993 ). Collaboration requires that student team members interact with each other respectfully, have open communication, jointly consider issues or problems, share decision making and involve in joint ownership ( Lunenburg and Ornstein, 2004 ). Collaboration is affected by communication and communication is enhanced by understanding and listening to each other, understanding the verbal and non-verbal cues. A connected concept to collaboration is collective efficacy. This is about the team's shared belief that they can do better when they work together ( Edmondson, 1999 ; Mathieu et al., 2008 ) Yet another connected and important characteristic is effective communication. It is the transmission of common understanding both in written and oral form and it is vital for effective performance. This skill is critical for success and is crucial for mangers who wants to achieve results through the effort of others ( Qureshi et al., 2013 ). Effective communication criterion is found important from small teams to the most senior ones including the CEOs ( Reilly et al., 2009 ; Wilkins et al., 2000 ; Kushal and Ahuja, 2009 ). Another facet of effective communication is honest communication; this too is an important characteristic ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ) for team cohesion. Steven and Campion (1994) notes that if teams consist of members that hide crucial project details from each other, than there shall be a gap in situation awareness of each member and thus the likelihood of project failing shall increase. The effective teams are known for having communication style which is relaxed, informal, without any obvious tension and is comfortable and honest ( Argyris, 1966 ; Likert, 1961 ). For good collaboration, coordination in teams (such as student teams) is also much desired. It involves the use of policies and conducts that results in assimilating the actions, knowledge and aims of various team members so that they may attain a common goal ( Arrow et al., 2000 ; Brannick and Wilkins, 1997). Communication and coordination is better in small teams because of less divergent viewpoints ( Demirors et al., 1997 ; Dangle et al., 2005 ). Teamwork and problem solving skills are also much desired as employability skills ( DEST, 2002 ; Esposto et al., 2011 ). Research has shown that graduates from ICT background are found to perform highly in understanding of business practice, time management and academic understanding. However they were found weak at the solving problems, gaining from training, business communication skills (both written and oral), leadership qualities, initiative, numeracy and personal presentation. A related skill to problem solving is being analytical in nature; this is a much desired skill as well ( Parkinson, 2008 ). Analytical skill is related to decision making based on the assembling and analyzing facts. This skill is much desired when a project is running short of time ( Callaghan, 2013 ; Kathleen, 2009 ; Sukhoo, 2009 ). Analytical skill is viewed as much desired graduate student skills ( McCorkle et al., 1999 ). Another important skill required is Decision Making Skills/being Decisive. This skill is related to ones' ability to firmly choose an option and motivating others too to reach a decision. Decision making skill of teams is influenced by the analytical skills of their individual team members ( Qureshi et al., 2013 ). Industry also emphasizes that undergraduate students should develop various skills and personal characteristics such as leadership/interpersonal skills and oral communication, written communication and initiation and decision-making skills ( Porter and McKibbin, 1988 ). Another desired characteristic for collaboration among team members is their being team player and have teamwork skills ( Parcon, 2007 ). Elsewhere, common sense is also noted be one of the desirable skills in student teams ( Wilkins and Lawhead, 2001 ). For the sake of effective collaboration, sportsmanship is also a much desire characteristic. Sportsmanship is about the readiness of the team members to ignore less than ideal circumstances without complaining. Organ and others also included this factor into their Organizational Citizenship Behavior model (OCB) which includes three categories, which are: helping behavior, civic virtue, and sportsmanship. Arora et al. (2002) noted logical thinking as a desired skill. Voicing Opinion is prescribed as a required skill too in teams ( Janis, 1972 ).

3.1.4. Individual self-management skills

Willingness to learn skills is related to ones' ability to improve his technical and personal skills so as to contribute in improving and expanding the team's and project's operations and outcomes ( Kechagias, 2011 ). A student should also be an effective writer and effective organizer to be desirable for others. Students were of the opinion that knowing how to communicate ideas and project, in written is a necessary skill much like organizing meetings with the stakeholders. To be able to organize meetings with stakeholders including the industry representative is an assumed big task for which a dependable person is required in teams ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ). Being tenacious means being persistent. Tenacity is necessary for successfully completing the projects ( Penttilä, 2014 ). Emotional stability is also considered as a much desired skill for individual self-management. Work teams with higher mean levels of emotional stability have greater task cohesion ( Annelies et al., 2001 ; Heslegrave and Colvin, 1996 ). Jacobs et al. notes that emotionally stable people are more task-oriented, and self-confident ( Jacobs et al., 1998 ). It is also evident from the literature that self-esteem is linked with efficient pair based working as programmer, personality type, and skill level. Students work best when they are paired with students of similar levels of self-esteem ( Katira et al., 2004 ; Smith et al., 1997 ). Self-esteem of team members can provide individuals with a sense of worth and a sense of accomplishment ( Scarnati, 2001 ). Productive self-organizing students manage their own workload and shift work among themselves based on the need and best fit only; they also actively participate in team decision making ( Hoda et al., 2013 ). Another desirable skill is Self-criticism. The process of self-criticism ensures good performance ( Cohen et al., 1996 ) as it encourages self-evaluation; by engaging in self-criticism, self-managed work team members are evaluating their competence in relation to their previous level of competence ( Steele-Johnson et al., 2000 ). Whereas Shinobu et al., 1997 notes is the inclination towards negative self-relevant information and is seen as self-depreciation or self-effacement, however, sensitivity to negative self-relevant information is not always an indication of low self-esteem or something to be avoided or overcome instead it has positive social and psychological consequences. Information about self should be used for self-improvement so as to meet the standards of excellence and to improve or perfect one's actions thus affirming one's belongingness to a group ( Azuma, 1994 ; Kitayama and Karasawa, 1995 ; White and LeVine, 1986 ). A relevant skill is to be self-observant or self-evaluator as it assists in the process of performance evaluation. Individual with this characteristics monitor their own work in group, and are cognizant of their own performance levels. This self-observation and evaluation leads to new skill acquisition and development of expertise ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ). Self-observation or evaluation is useful for determining our skill level in comparison to a coworker or a referent other ( Carson et al., 2004 ). Self-goal setting is about setting of goals for performance for oneself. This behavior ensures that the group and its individuals set realistic and challenging goals. For the goal setting process an individual should be aware of his ability to achieve the goals that he is setting. The self-setting of goals is indirectly related to self-expectation ( Locke and Latham, 1990 ). Other skills found important in this category include Self-reinforcement (which is that one recognizes and reinforces good performance from time to time) ( Jacobs et al., 1998 ), Self-expectation ( Carson et al., 2004 ) and rehearsal ( Bandura, 1977 ). has shown that if individuals exercise or rehearse undertakings routinely before they are to perform them, their performance shall be better at the time when task shall be actually performed. This process of self-expecting is close to self-goal setting. Rehearsal is a simulation of how the self-expectation shall be achieved even before performing to achieve the self-expectations. Rehearsal is the process of cognition and thinking through so as to practice an act before actual performance ( Cohen, 1994 ). Another skill in the aligned with others in this category is self-disciplined ( Matthew et al., 2009 ), ability to accept criticism, being action-oriented ( Futrel et al., 2002 ; Mursu, 2002 ), responsible for own actions, self-motivated ( Jaramillo et al., 2014 ; Connerly et al., 2001 ), work under pressure, willingness to take team's responsibility, and having self-confidence ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ).

3.1.5. Personality

Since personality type has significant effects on the team formation and cohesion, therefore identifying the MBTI personality type is an important requirement. It is one of most widely used personality type identifier used in computer science student teams ( Hannay et al., 2010 ; Capretz et al., 2015 ; Jacobs et al., 1998 ; da Silva and César, 2009 ; Parente et al., 2011 ; Goldberg et al., 2013 ; Wilde, 1997 ; Buffinton et al., 2002 ; da Silva et al., 2013 ; Feldt et al., 2010 ; Shujuan et al., 2010 ; Buffinton et al., 2002 ; Scott et al., 1995 ; Hansen et al., 2011 ; Berry et al., 2011 ). TrueColor too is referred to in the student team building, for example in Hansen et al. (2011) . It has the capability to predict the learning styles using the colors. Similarly, communication style is also discussed in the context of software engineering student teams ( Sims-Knight et al., 2002 ; McChesney et al., 2004 ). Students also seek the colleagues that are driven and are prepared for Independence. Such people are those that probably have all the requisite skills necessary to perform required tasks independently. They achieve this either through coaching, formal training, and/or self-development training ( Mealiea et al., 2005 ). Students were of the opinion that those coworkers that are not ready to share their experiences with other team members and mentor others are not sought in the later teams. Thus “mentoring will and capability” is found much desired by the students. Psychological safety: It is defined as “a shared belief among team members that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” This factor is emphasized a lot in the team formation literature ( Edmondson, 1999 ; West, 1987 /1990; Nembhard and Edmondson, 2012 ). Another skill required on a self-managing team is Resilience ( Wasongaand Murphy, 2007 ). Henderson and Milstein (2003) defined resiliency as “the capacity to spring back, rebound successfully and adapt in the face of adversity.” Elsewhere the same term is defined as mechanisms that “ameliorate or buffer” a resilient person's response to a problematic situation that can lead to maladaptive outcome in ordinary circumstances (Taylor and Thomas, 2001). According to Henry and Milstein (2006) , resilient leaders are “like rubber bands; they bounce back from adversities stronger and faster, learn from experiences, gain more self-confidence in the process, and develop new skills”. Attitude towards hard work: Some students don't start to really get into work until it's the last minute. Teams with such students that don't like to work hard throughout the term and spring into action only at the last moment are often ignored by students with efficient team members. Therefore it can be assumed that attitude towards hard work is a much desired characteristic in student teams. Sense of humor is also a desired skill on a self-managing team. Wax (2015) in her research noted that another much appreciated skill in students is the sense of humor.

3.2. Taskwork skills

In the following section, the identified taskwork skills/criteria for building cohesive teams of capstone software engineering projects are discussed.

3.2.1. Project management skills

Fair idea of the Project Importance is considered a strong skill for inclusion on a self-managing capstone team. da Silva et al. (2013) notes that project importance is about the competitive, strategic, or business significance of a project has to the team or firm engineering it. Assessing the importance of project is an important skill. Skill to get engaged in dialogue ( da Silva et al., 2013 ) is an important skill for team formation. Students may or may not have a skill to engage in meaningful dialogue with others. By engaging in dialogue, a student try and understand others and himself too. Students learn when individual contributions lead to greater understanding of the problem and how to resolve it ( da Silva et al., 2013 ). Hunsaker et al. (2011) noted that Ability to develop team charters is also an important skill, as these charters are an effective intervention in building effective process norms within student teams that, ultimately, improve member satisfaction and performance. Team charters are a tool believed to be important to the development of effective project management quality and, in turn, member satisfaction and performance ( da Silva et al., 2013 ). Elsewhere in the literature Hagan identified that “employers want/need graduate students with skills in verbal and technological communication, problem-solving, critical-thinking, teamwork, conflict negotiation, managerial skills, and time management” ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ). It is pertinent to note that even though the capstone project focuses on producing quality software a student's performance may not be based totally on successful implementation but on his cohesion in the team. Importance is also placed on the students' ability to interact with the client, the ability to present and demonstrate their work, produce appropriate documentation, ability to work in a team, communicate effectively, and produce substantial documentation at both a user and technical level, skills in meeting management, teamwork, time management and evaluating work products ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ). Further to this, Hagan identified that employers want/need graduate students with skills in verbal and technological communication, problem-solving, critical-thinking, teamwork, conflict negotiation, managerial skills, and time management. Students must also have developed skills in meeting management (such as communication and record keeping), teamwork, time management and evaluating (testing) work products produced at all phases of the software development lifecycle. Planning/scheduling skills and documentation skills too are desired skills ( Hansen, 1999 ). Documentation skill is a highly desired skill because it stimulates and amplifies processes of learning. Knowledge identification and documentation are the first steps in project knowledge review ( Gasik, 2011 ). Documentation is a side effect of the software development effort ( Umphress et al., 2002 ). Some other characteristics in this category proposed by the students were meeting deadlines ( Maule and Mackie, 1990 ; Umphress et al., 2002 ), tolerance for uncertainty, availability to work late nights with the group, and availability ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ; Connerly et al., 2001 ). Knowledge of Project management standards and Project management skills ( Shaikh et al., 2016 ; Seidel and Godfrey (2005) , Avgerou (2008) , Reif and Mitri (2005) ) is also found to be an important skill.

3.2.2. Taskwork expertise

Project teams display “task interdependence” when the team members recognize that the results of their actions are strongly related to the results of the actions of the team. Task interdependence is driven by believe that team's goals and responsibilities are collective responsibility. Van den Bossche et al. (2006) notes that task interdependence predicts learning behavior in student project teams; they further explained that capstone team members learn and perform collectively better if they manage their conflicts and share information efficiently. Task interdependence can be total, partial or relative in nature ( Latting et al., 1991 ). Overall technical profile is also found as important for selection into a team; it is related directly to the practical capacity of an individual in a particular language, technology, platform, expert knowledge in a module of a system or business process etc ( da Silva et al., 2013 ; Conrad, 2002 ; Coakes et al. (2010) ; Umphress et al. (2002) ; Hogan and Thomas (2005 , January); Clark, 2005 ). Students are also expected to have applied research and analytical skills ( Missingham, 2006 ; Callaghan, 2013 ) to be selected on the team. Other skills proposed by students in this category include Past Team Experience ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ), Knowledge of clear work procedure, Strategy formulation ( da Silva et al., 2013 ), Clear goals, and Verbal and technological communication skills ( Hackman, 1987 ; Guzzo and Shea, 1992 , 1993 ). Researchers have also indicated that open and honest communication is common in high performing self-managing teams ( Murnighanand Conlon, 1991 ; Druskat, 1996 ; Druskat et al., 1999 ). The skills for detecting inconsistency and incompleteness of the description of the present situation is also important. Only with this skill students can ask questions to clarify the situation and improve the description of the information needs. Past meta-analytic studies affirm information sharing's importance to team performance, cohesion and member satisfaction ( David Constant et al., 1994 ). Productivity, multitasking ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ; Connerly et al., 2001 ), GPA, major area of interest, grades in previous similar projects were the other skills proposed by students in this category. Hagan identified that employers also want graduate students with skills in verbal and technological communication, problem-solving, critical-thinking, teamwork, conflict negotiation, managerial skills, and time management, sense of purpose, ability to clarify mission statement, and ability to outline meaningful performance goals. All teams need to develop certain work approaches, procedures and processes to ensure that they accomplish a task efficiently and effectively. To further differentiate the qualities of high performance team as compared with average teams Hagan believes that the following qualities are also important: a deeper sense of purpose, relatively more ambitious performance goals, better work approaches and outcomes, mutual accountability, complementary skills and expertise.

3.2.3. Software development processes skills

The identified skills in this category are team software processes knowledge ( Humphrey, 2000a , Humphrey, 2000b ; Hilburn, 2000 ), being able to adopt the most effective programming method, understands the business model of mobile commerce, understands knowledge management, being familiar with android systems, understands the basic technology of cloud computing service capable of design thinking, capable of using software development tools, being familiar with ios system, JAVA and other such programming languages ( Chang, 2014 ).

3.2.4. Work analysis and reflection

The related skills in this category are ability of managing risk ( da Silva et al., 2013 ), breadth of perspective, attention to detail, creativity ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ; Connerly et al., 2001 ; da Silva et al., 2013 ), critical thinking ( Wilkins et al., 2000 ), vision, reflection ( Brigit, 2010 ), mission analysis ( Connerly et al., 2001 ; Wilkins et al., 2000 ), situational awareness ( Endsley, 2018 ), and assessment of commercial value ( da Silva et al., 2013 ).

A qualitative and descriptive quantitative analysis of the responses obtained from the modified Group Environment Questionnaire was done for the two groups of the students that had used the proposed team building criteria and those that had not used them. The modified GEQ consists of 4 categories that are: Attraction towards the Group's Social Life, Attraction to the Group – Team, Group Integration – Social, Group Integration – Team. Tables  (3 and ​ and4) 4 ) show the frequency count of the number of students that had selected an option from 1 to 9 (such 1: Strongly Disagree, 9: Strongly Disagree). Carron et al. (1985) distributed the questions of the GEQ ( Table 2 ) into four categories which are mentioned in the above paragraph; these same categories were adopted in the modified form of the GEQ used in this research. Questions organized in each categories are: Individual attraction to the group - social (ATGS): questions 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, Individual Attraction to the Group - task (ATGT): questions 2, 4, 6, 8, Group Integration - Social (GIS): questions 11, 13, 15, 17, and Group Integration - Task (GIT): questions 10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

Table 2

Modified group environment questionnaire.

Table 3

Modified GEQ dispensed to FYP students without knowledge of proposed team building criterions.

1 = strongly disagree, 2 = quite a bit disagree, 3 = moderately disagree, 4 = a little disagree, 5 = no opinion, 6 = a little agree, 7 = moderately agree, 8 = quite a bit agree, 9 = strongly agree.

Table 4

Modified GEQ dispensed to FYP students with knowledge of proposed team building criterions.

A qualitative comparison of the data has shown that the level of cohesion among team members that were formed using the proposed team building criteria ( Table 4 ) is much higher than the level of cohesion among teams that were not formed using the proposed criteria ( Table 3 ). A qualitative comparison of the data given in Tables  3 and ​ and4 4 has shown that the level of cohesion in students that had used the proposed criteria was higher on all four categories (Attraction towards the Group's Social Life, Attraction to the Group – Team, Group Integration – Social, Group Integration – Team) when compared with the level of cohesion found in the students that had not used these criteria.

When the modified GEQ was dispensed to the two group, in contrast to the other group (that had not formed the teams using the proposed criteria), response to questions in ATGS category from those students that were formed into teams through the criteria proposed in this research ( Table 4 ), reveals that students not only enjoyed social activities together, had affection for each other, had or made best friends on the team, liked to go out for parties together and considered the team as the most important thing to them.

Similarly, in response to the questions under the category of ATGT, students (that were teamed using the proposed criteria) displayed satisfaction for the time they spend on their project, displayed tenacity to complete the project on time, considered the team as important for improving their personal performances, and were found overall satisfied with the team's approach of undertaking the project. When the students that had formed the teams using the proposed criteria were asked GIS category questions, they were of the opinion that they liked to party together, and enjoy each other's company even during the off-season or on various other courses. Moreover they were found to be organized in terms of completing their tasks, had a sense of mutual responsibility, liked to help each other on individual tasks, and had a very frequent communication among each other thus signifying that the students that were formed into teams using the proposed criteria were integrated on task activities (GIT) as well. Moreover neither there was any break up in the teams reported, nor any group of students asked for changing their project proposal. There were no calls made for changing the supervisor as well. Overall, the effects of the proposed team building criteria were found to be encouraging when compared to no standard team building criteria applied for forming software engineering student capstone project teams.

5. Discussion

Team and taskwork skills are important factors for team performance in a teamwork environment. Research has shown that team and taskwork skills dictates the application, development, and the performance of software engineering projects. Therefore, it is important that the software engineering graduates should be technically as well as socially competent. Academic education in computer science and allied fields should prepare students to work effectively in teams and foster collaborative skills necessary in the workplace ( Figl, 2010 ).

As evident from the data mentioned in this paper and from several other researches using the same criteria that the teams getting developed as a result of the usage of these criteria are more cohesive and more effective ( Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , 2020 ). They also achieve their goals in a more swift fashion as compared to the teams develop through other methods such as teacher assignment or relation bias.

The proposed criteria have implications in multiple areas. Such as in terms of team selection, training, performance appraisal, career development and compensation. In terms of team selection, the team building criterions can be used in assessing individual students for their appropriateness for team. The decision of appropriateness of an individual for a team is assessed both on teamwork as well as taskwork skills. The criteria proposed are broad in nature instead of very specific. The proposed team building criterions can be used for identifying weak teamwork and taskwork skill areas of individuals before employment.

When it comes to team training, teachers may use these criterions to identify the areas where improvement and good training is required. Teachers may also use the same criterions for assessing the abilities of the students in teamwork and taskwork skills identified in this research.

In terms of performance appraisal, the criterions can be used as performance indicators because they are provided as a set of items on which the students can be appraised once the project is finish. Teachers too can be trained to use these criterions for performance appraisal.

As for career development, team and technical skills require a planned learning both by the teacher as well as the students. Teamwork skills proposed may develop with proper socialization; whereas teachers have a responsibility to create the right environment in which students may learn to socialize and learn the right skills. The teams developed through the usage of the proposed criteria should be compensated too in terms of appropriate guidance and encouragement because such teams would not be made on the basis of relation bias.

6. Conclusion

In this research, 128 team building criteria were proposed for forming self-managing teams of software engineering capstone project students. The criteria are first of their kind that are specifically proposed for the software engineering students under the guidance of a conceptual framework developed for guiding this research. The criteria were tested for Computer Engineering students as well in a separate research ( Shaikh et al., 2020 ). A dataset in under development at the moment that would link the responses of the students on the Psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire ( Shaikh et al., 2020 ) and the salary of the first job that the students had received after graduating from the degree program.

The criteria were identified under the guidance of a Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Others framework. Before this research there was no such framework available for software engineering capstone teams. The framework was published in Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018a , Shaikh and Ahsan, 2018b ; the framework was developed from a comprehensive review of literature on engineering education.

Once the framework was formed, another review of literature was conducted under the guidance of the framework so as to identify those factors that the capstone student teams use or must use to form a self-managing team. The review of literature consisted of all those papers that were written on instructor led team formation, and student led team formation. Moreover, a questionnaire was used that assisted in gathering the data from the past capstone students of software engineering, about how did they formed teams and what factors they were interested in while forming the teams.

Finally, once these factors were identified, questions were formed around these factors so as to measure them in a student on a Likert-type scale. The responses on these questions were meant to self-report own ability on the factors determined for forming cohesive teams. In order to make the response to questions easier, software named Psychographd was also developed. The software is useful not only in recording the responses of the students on the questionnaire but it is also meant for grouping the students with similar responses in various groups.

The teams thus formed through the self-evaluation results on the proposed team building criteria, were allowed to work over six months. At the end of this period, a Group Environment Questionnaire was circulated among the students (a) that had formed the teams using the proposed team building criteria with the help of Psychographic self-evaluation questionnaire and Psychographd software and to (b) those that had not formed the teams using the proposed criteria. The results have shown that the cohesion among those students that had formed a team using the team building criteria proposed in this research has improved greatly as compared to those that had not used these criteria.

Future work of this research includes studying the use of these criteria in an online collaborative working environment, and use of them in a software house setting. Since the COVID-19 changed the way we work, it is utmost necessary to develop strategies for the world working from their homes. There is a possibility that the students shall be more interested in working from home for the most part of 2021 and may be later. In such a situation, the emphases will shift from instructor led learning to self-regulated learning. Students will then be required to regulate the way they will progress with their academic journey. The role of teams would then become very different. The teams would not be then work in face-to-face environment. This will bring the concept of socially shared regulation of learning when these students will be working in teams. Would these criteria still be valid in socially shared regulation of learning environment? This is a question that needs to be answered.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

M. K. Shaikh: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interests statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the supplementary data related to this article:

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IMAGES

  1. Capstone Project Stage 1

    capstone project software engineering

  2. Chapter 9 Capstone Project Standards, Constraints and Tradeoffs in Software Design

    capstone project software engineering

  3. Capstone Project PowerPoint Presentation Slides

    capstone project software engineering

  4. it capstone project ideas list.pdf

    capstone project software engineering

  5. DevOps and Software Engineering Capstone Project

    capstone project software engineering

  6. capstone- project-examples.pdf

    capstone project software engineering

VIDEO

  1. CAPSTONE PROJECT DEMONSTRATION

  2. Capstone Project Part 2

  3. Capstone Project Lesson Plan

  4. Capstone project 1

  5. Java Project

  6. Capstone Project Presentation

COMMENTS

  1. Software Engineering Capstone

    However, most industry projects are much larger and are consequently developed by teams. The Software Engineeering Casptone, CSCI E-599, course aims to fill this gap by developing and deploying a significant semester-long software engineering project with a team of no more than five people. The project includes the requirements gathering ...

  2. Coding Bootcamp Final Project Ideas

    Software Engineering Final Project Ideas. Software engineering is a discipline that undergirds a lot of the modern world. As such, it comes as no surprise that careers in the software engineering field are expected to grow by 25 percent within the next decade. Find your way into it with one of these software engineering capstone project ideas:

  3. Top 15 Software Engineering Projects (2024)

    Software engineering is a vast category & caters to many segments, they are responsible for creating games apps, web-based apps, etc. This can be achieved using different programming languages, frameworks, etc. Some of the best software engineering projects include: Chess Game. Calculator.

  4. UBCx: Software Development Capstone Project

    In this project course, the final course in the Software Development MicroMasters program, you will learn how to input, manipulate, and return data with a modern web development stack. Using TypeScript and Node, you will manipulate large amounts of information using a domain-specific querying language. Backend, REST, and front-end technologies ...

  5. IBM: DevOps and Software Engineering Capstone Project

    About this course. In this Capstone course, you will apply your skills and knowledge acquired in previous courses and demonstrate your proficiency in DevOps practices. You'll plan, develop, test, deploy, monitor, and enhance a secure microservices-based application on Cloud across several sprints, using a variety of Agile, Cloud Native, and ...

  6. Software engineering capstone projects demonstrate hands-on development

    Pursuing a capstone project is a completion marker for students' coursework. In the Department of Computer Science, CS 40700 (Software Engineering Senior Project) is the capstone course which offers a hands-on development experience to seniors in the software engineering track of the computer science major.

  7. The Capstone Project

    Get hands-on experience working on a problem in the computational sciences. At the end of the program, students partner with companies and labs to address complex and challenging machine learning and software engineering problems. Projects may be self-contained or part of a larger business initiative. Supervised by a faculty member, students will spend 10 hours … The Capstone Project Read ...

  8. PDF Software Engineering Capstone Design Projects 2022

    Software Engineering Capstone Design Projects 2022 March 29, 2022. Teams Human-ComputerInteraction1 DotDotDash 2 VivaLaZeez Health3 Houdini 4 Agnes Non-profit5 R2 6 LacusLabs FOSS7 Axon 8 LOI Startup9 Scena360 10 Coachella SoftwareEngineeringTools11 InsufficientlyCaffenaited 12 Inliner 13 TheWheelerz

  9. DevOps Capstone Project

    Showcase your DevOps and Software Engineering skills with this hands-on Capstone project! In this course you will apply the skills and techniques you have learned as part of the previous courses in the Professional Certificate. During the project you will develop, test, deploy, monitor, and enhance a secure microservices-based application on ...

  10. Capstone Projects

    There are 29 capstone projects: 8 graduate projects in with project name starts with "GLW", and 21 undergraduate capstone projects with project name starts with "UX" or "UZ". Capstone Project Information (Excel File) The project information file contains project title, project website, recorded presentation, and evaluator assignment.

  11. 21 Capstone Project Topics for Computer Engineering Diploma

    List of Best Capstone Project Topics for Computer Engineering Diploma. 1. IoT-Based Home Automation System. Design and implement a smart home system that enables users to control appliances and ...

  12. A systematic literature review of capstone courses in software engineering

    This paper explores the characteristics of project-based software engineering capstone courses presented in the literature. The goal of this work is to understand the pros and cons of different approaches by synthesising the various aspects of software engineering capstone courses and related experiences.

  13. Analyzing Challenges in Software Engineering Capstone Projects

    ICSEA 2020 : The Fifteenth International Conference on Software Engineering Advances Analyzing Challenges in Software Engineering Capstone Projects Yvonne Sedelmaier, Dieter Landes Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts 96450 Coburg, Germany e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract—Engineering ...

  14. What Is a Capstone Project in Engineering?

    The project can be anything that uses their management and engineering skills to make a product, design software or find innovative ways to affect change within their industry. ... Engineering Capstone Projects: For EMP, It's Just the Beginning. For McCluskey, this is an exciting time. Seeing the four students come through the capstone ...

  15. PDF Analyzing Challenges in Software Engineering Capstone Projects

    Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts 96450 Coburg, Germany. e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. Abstract—Engineering complex software systems is a very delicate and challenging task, which involves a variety of technical, general non-technical, and ...

  16. Capstone Project in Software Engineering

    Overview. Participants will gain in-depth experience and also demonstrate ability by applying Architecture and Design skills to architect, design, build and manage the on-time delivery of fully-tested robust software systems. The capstone project for MTech SE stackable students will extend over a period of 7-12 months where they will apply the ...

  17. DevOps Capstone Project

    Offered by IBM. Showcase your DevOps and Software Engineering skills with this hands-on Capstone project! In this course you will apply the ... Enroll for free.

  18. How to form a software engineering capstone team?

    Abstract. This research paper answers the question that how shall the students of software engineering undergraduate courses form teams for the capstone projects that can be cohesive too. In this research, 128 criteria for team formation are proposed for building teams for self-managing software engineering capstone projects.

  19. 2020 Capstone Projects

    Group Academic Supervisor: Dr. Vijay Sood. Course Instructor & Capstone Coordinator: Dr. Qusay Mahmoud. Design and Development of a Detection and Tracking System for Moving Objects. Presentation Slides. Team Members: Samantha Husack. Alexander Hurst. Sunny Patel. Ethan Wallace.

  20. Capstone

    This is a controlled course and required Software Engineering department consent. The course instructor assigns small groups of students to work on designated project. The capstone focuses on a real-world project and vary by semester. Past projects involved process definition; others centered on reuse, design, requirements gathering; others ...

  21. Capstone Projects in Software Engineering at Alfaisal University

    In the Software Engineering program at Alfaisal University, students work on real-world projects with partner institutions which share use cases and data with the capstone team to create a customized technology solution. A project showcase was held in May 2023 for the graduating Class of 2023 in the Software Engineering program.

  22. How to form a software engineering capstone team?

    Abstract. This research paper answers the question that how shall the students of software engineering undergraduate courses form teams for the capstone projects that can be cohesive too. In this research, 128 criteria for team formation are proposed for building teams for self-managing software engineering capstone projects.

  23. Ideas for a Capstone project? : r/compsci

    It was a 1 year project and digital circuits was also an entire semester in and of itself. A capstone project is really just a theoretical project for a company. But it can help you get a job after college if you put some work into it. You mentioned you are learning Python and you enjoy front end development.

  24. PDF School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence NAME: Computer Systems

    CSE 360: Introduction to Software Engineering-Software life cycle models; project management, team development environments and methodologies; software architectures; ... CSE 424: Systems Capstone Project II æ Continuation of capstone project started in CSE 423. CSE Technical Elective CSE Technical Elective. Title: Microsoft Word - 2023-24 CSE ...